Saturday morning I tried to continue this sense of hope even in the face of tragedy. Is it ridiculous? We are cautioned to not say a prayer in vain, a brach levatla, like saying a blessing over an apple or a piece of bread and then not eating it.  They tell you that clergy people give the sermon that they themselves need to hear. Here it is:

We are also told that if you hear sirens in the distance, you should not pray that it not be your house. It is already someone’s house. Pray for the well-being of the person who needs emergency care. Pray for the first responders. Pray for the healers to be sheltered from harm. Pray. Prayers themselves are not bad. Prayers can help calm a situation. Prayers can help us feel grounded and secure. Prayers can help us feel connected to others. And the science shows this, prayers can heal.  

This last parsha of the Book of Leviticus is a challenging one. Yet for me, it brings a modicum of hope. In the chapter we read that if the Israelites follow the commandments it will go well with them. In the first chapter of the full parsha, we didn’t read this year, that if the Israelites repent, then G-d will remember the covenant with the ancients whom G-d freed from the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations.  

If we rest the land, actually observe the shmita and yovel, the cycle of seven years and then which we have studied the past two weeks as part of the “Pursuit of Holiness” as our chumash commentary Etz Hayyim calls these four portions at the end of Leviticus, then  then G-d will remember us and the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 

What does it mean to rest the land? What does it mean to rest ourselves. To really observe a sabbath and allow time to sleep, to dream, to pray, to be without the pressures of our 24×7 culture.  

This is Rainbow Day. That’s why I am wearing my rainbow tallit today. No, it doesn’t mean today is the day to go get an original rainbow cone, although on a hot start of summer weekend that might be fun. https://www.rainbowcone.com/  

On the 27th day of the second month, according to Genesis 8, Noah and his family and all the animals left the ark. One lunar year and 10 days earlier, a complete solar year (other people did this math), the flood began on the day before Lag B’omer, the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer. When Noah and his famiily emerged G-d made a covenant. Another example of an if-then promise, to never destroy the world again with a flood of water. There is a spiritual hymn, No more water. Fire Next Time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIaFgGFVCU4  James Baldwin turned that into the title of one of his books. Rainbow Day is always the 42nd Day of the Omer.  

That day is today. Today is Rainbow Day. 

The Rainbow Covenant brings me hope.  

The Rainbow Covenant is a time to celebrate the diversity of life on Earth. It reminds us of our partnership with G-d to make sure to never destroy the earth. That we are caretakers with G-d in this glorious creation. We need to remember our part of that rainbow covenant. Part of that is to rest the land. That covenant was made with all living creatures. Not just human beings. Our early morning services echos this theme. Psalm 150 says, “Let every breath of life praise G-d. Halleluyah! “ (Sim Shalom page 100) and then that is echoed with Nishmat Kol Chai, “The breath of all that lives praises You.” (page 104) Every breath. I interpret that to mean Jews and non-Jews, every person. Humans, animals, even the trees.   Here is Cantor Arlene Jaffee singing “All the World Sings to You.” Ahavat Olam/Parshat Noach – All the World Sings to You 

 Our text ends renewing another covenant: 

“These are the commandments that the Lord gave Moses for the Israelite people on Mount Sinai—behar Sinai. “ The very last words of the Book of Leviticus. But Mount Sinai isn’t necessarily a physical place and all the laws were not given at Sinai. In fact Leviticus begins by saying that the following laws were given at the Tent of Sinai. Etz Chayim says that “Sinai is not a geographic location. It is a symbol of Israel’s awareness of having stood in the presence of G-d and having come to understand what God requires of them. Whenever a person hears the commanding voice of G-d and commits himself or herself to live by that voice, that person can be considered to be standing at Sinai.”  

Next week we celebrate Shavuot. 50 days from Passover. It too is a sign of our covenantal relationship. Several years ago we at CKI after a year of studying covenant, wrote our own covenant with G-d, a ketubah reflective of our relationship with each other and with G-d. This year, our Torah school kids added the 10 commandments to that covenant and each one signed it. Here is our list: 

The Israelites
gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai said “We will do and we will hear.” Even before they knew what was in it, they agreed.  

 On this, the 6th of Sivan 5779 and reaffirmed on this 29th of Iyyar 5782, May 1, 2022, as we reckon time in Elgin, IL, we, the members of Congregation Kneseth Israel and the Torah School are standing again at Mount Sinai ready to receive the Torah as a sign of our covenant with the Holy One. We promise to engage in 

Lifelong Learning 

• To attend the house of study  
• To learn and to teach with our adults and children 
• To teach our children diligently 

Meaningful Observance  

• To pray with sincerity 
• To remember and keep Shabbat
  To rejoice with bride and groom 
• To console the bereaved  
• To celebrate lifecycle events and holidays 
• To maintain a kosher kitchen 

Building Community 

• To honor our fathers and mothers 
• To perform acts of love and kindness 
• To visit the sick 
• To host gatherings for men and women and children 
• To be warm and welcoming to all who enter 

Embracing Diversity 

• To recognize that everyone is created in the image of G-d, b’tzelem elohim
  To love our neighbors as ourselves 
• To welcome the stranger  
• To provide hospitality to all who enter 
• To not put a stumbling block before the blind or curse the deaf 
• To provide a safe, non-judgmental space for all to learn, celebrate and grow 
• To make peace where there is strife 

And the study of Torah equal to them all, because it leads to them all. 

“Ours is not to finish the task, neither are we free to ignore it.” Pirke Avot 2:21 

Witnessed and signed this day of Shavuot, 5779 by 

All of this brings me hope. Hope for us. Hope for the next generation.