What a lovely tradition this is. Thank you for including me and welcoming me. And thank you for bringing us the idea of co-sponsoring the event last month on Rabbi Evan Moffic’s book, First the Jews. This kind of join programming is important. I think it actually saves lives. And make no mistake, the friendship that has developed between Father Don and I, between Don and David and Simon and I has helped to save lives. He told you about my showing up at the hospital. But who do you think showed up the first morning of chemo for my husband, with a Saint James prayer blanket?! And who do you think would drive him home if I had to work?

This program in particular reminds me of the early days of the kibbutzim, where young halutzim really understood the connection to the land. The land is important. It is an honor to be here today, to share this message. You see, my father, when he was a medical school professor at Northwestern, was part of the first national Earth Day in 1970. We referred to our home in Evanston as Dandelion Acres. Because even back then we were “organic,” we weren’t using those harsh chemicals that might destroy the environment.

Look around you. This is beautiful. Be quiet and hear the birds. Marvel at the notion that at 6 AM it was pouring, then there was a rainbow and now this. Enjoy the breeze. Wind, and spirit are both ruach in Hebrew. Wind is the very breath of G-d.

From the beginning of the Bible, the Torah, as you have just read, G-d created the world and saw that it was good and as Bishop Tutu said, smiled. And the Ruach Elohim, the spirit of G-d, merachefet, fluttered over the water.

This is very good, man woman and child. All are good.

Rabbi Chaim Stern edited the Reform Movement Gates of Prayer and included his prayer that became a song:

When G-d made the world, G-d made it full of light.
The sun to shine by day
The moon and stars by night
G-d made it full of life
Lilies oak and trout
Tigers and bears, sparrows, hawks
And apes. (laughter, as anticipated)

And God took clay from earth’s four corners to give it the breath of life,
And God said:
This is very good. This is very good. This is very, very good.
Man , women, and child: all are good.
Man woman and child resemble god.

Like God, we love, like God we think, like God we care.
Man, woman and child all are good.

Just as the song and the Bible itself suggests, each of us is created, b’tzelem elohim, in the image of G-d. And each of us has an obligation to be a partner with G-d in the works of a creation. As co-creators, caretakers, partners.

This is a covenantal relationship. A covenant is a promise. It can be a legal contract or a treaty. If you do x I will do y. This past year, Congregation Kneseth Israel spent the year looking at covenant. There are 346 mentions of covenant in the Bible, (don’t worry, we are not going to do all of them!) 270 mentions in the Hebrew Scriptures alone. There are several different covenants in the Bible:

The covenant of creation, which we are enjoying right here, right now today, out here in this beautiful setting, of the Garden of Eden where G-d commands Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply and while they have dominion over the earth, they need to be caretakers of the earth and G-d’s partner in creation.

The covenant with Abraham, and of Moses, where circumcision and Shabbat are the signs of the covenant.

Perhaps most relevant to us today is the covenant with Noah. where G-d promises never to destroy the world again by flood. The sign of that covenant is the rainbow which some of us were treated to early this morning. There is a Jewish blessing for a rainbow. Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech Ha’olam, zochair habrit. Blessed are You, Lord our G-d, who remembers the covenant.

That promise that G-d makes to never destroy the world again. Listen carefully. Never again through water.

“And I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.” (Gen. 9:15)

The words of the Gospel spiritual says. Anyone know it? I promised not to try to sing this one. Perhaps if I had been totally on my game, Luke could have amplified the Youtube clip. I’ll send Father Don the link.

It’s gonna rain (2x),
you better get ready and bear this in mind.
God showed Noah by the rainbow sign,
no more water, but fire next time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GdL8i6QQAQ

But fire next time. It is happening now. July was the hottest July on record. This is an indisputable fact. https://www.noaa.gov/news/july-2019-was-hottest-month-on-record-for-planet?fbclid=IwAR1t-OiI7ZP5TPLWoKn6U2a61-swJY1aZFDX6CUmoFRb86-SZ6oTezQcgas

Today is Tisha B’av. A Jewish fast day commemorating the destruction of the two Holy Temples in Jerusalem. Anything bad that happened to the Jews happened on Tisha B’av. The first set of tablets of the 10 commandments were smashed. The two temples destroyed, the expulsion of the Jews from England and then later from Spain. That was in 1492 and that is a different story for another time but very relevant to those of us who live in the Elgin area.

Since the 1970s, Jewish rabbis have been talking about Tisha B’av with its fires of destruction as a way to talk about two much more recent issues. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And the issue of scorched earth policy.

This earth, this very earth that we are standing on today, is our Holy Temple. If we destroy it by fire, we will have nothing. If we destroy it with our dependence on fossil fuels and we destroy the ozone layer, the very thing my father was worried about back in the 70s, we will have nothing. If we destroy it by refusing to listen to the prophet/scientists warning on climate change, we will have nothing.

We are the generation that stands
between the fires:
Behind us the flame and smoke
that rose from Auschwitz and from Hiroshima
And from the burning of the Amazon forest;
Before us the nightmare of a Flood of Fire,
The flame and smoke that could consume all earth.

It is our task to make from fire not an all-consuming blaze
But the light in which we see each other fully.
All of us different, All of us bearing
One Spark.

We light these fires to see more clearly
That the earth and all who live as part of it
Are not for burning.
We light these fires to see more clearly
The rainbow in our many-colored faces.
Blessed is the One within the many.
Blessed are the many who make One.

Here! I will send you
Elijah the Prophet
Before the coming
of the great and terrible day
of YAHH, the Breath of Life.
And he shall turn the heart
Of parents to children
And the heart of children to their parents.
Lest I come and
Smite the earth
With utter destruction.
(From Malachi 3)

Here! we ourselves are coming
Before the great and terrible day
of smiting Earth —
For we shall turn the hearts
Of parents to children
And the hearts of children to their parents
So that this day of smiting
Does not fall upon us.

Rabbi Arthur Waskow

https://theshalomcenter.org/content/flaming-fire-consuming-everything-tisha-bav-time-climate-crisis

Yesterday, Jews around the world began reading the book of Deuteronomy. Later in the  book, we are told Tzedek, tzedek tirdof, justice, justice shall you pursue. It is not just something we can wait for in our pews and our homes. It is something we have to run after and work for. It is something we have to actively seek out. It is said that there are no extra words in the Torah, so why then does the word justice repeat. For emphasis, surely. But that extra word also reminds us that we need to seek out justice, here in our own communities, and out there in communities further away.

Later in that very reading, we are given the rules for waging war. It was my daughter’s Bat Mitzvah portion. It tells us to bal taschit, don’t destroy. Specifically don’t destroy a fruit tree. Do you grow any fruit trees here? If so don’t destroy them! What the text says, if you are sieging a city, don’t destroy the fruit trees. The people in the city must not be deprived of their food source. This principle of bal taschit, don’t destroy is then applied to the whole range of environmental justice.

We have an obligation therefore, as part of our covenant to never destroy the world. To do no harm. Like we learned at Girl Scout camp, to leave a place better than we found it. This very world we need to leave better than we found it.

A story from the Talmud as retold by Peninah Schram:
One day, Honi the Circle Maker was walking on the road and saw a man planting a carob tree. Honi asked the man, “How long will it take for this tree to bear fruit?” The man replied, “Seventy years.” Honi then asked the man, “And do you think you will live another seventy years and eat the fruit of this tree?” He answered, “Just as my ancestors planted for me, I must plant for my children and grandchildren.” I tell this story at least once a year. Usually at the Jewish holiday of Tu B’shevat, the New Year of the Trees. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be back out here for that? Never mind. That’s usually January!

As part of our exploration of covenant this past year, the Hebrew School used the book, A Kid’s Mensch Handbook, A Step by Step Guide to a Lifetime of Jewish Values. Scott Blumenthal argues on the very first page that our actions matter. That if you throw a rock into a pond, a lake, an ocean, there is a ripple effect. Maimonides, centuries earlier make a similar argument…that our individual actions can tip the scale.

Both say that your actions matter. It is like the starfish story that I often retell:

A grandfather and his granddaughter are walking on the beach. Every so often she picks up a starfish and throws it out into the water. He stops her and says, “Why are you doing that? You can’t possible save them all.”

She bends down, picks up another starfish and throws it into the sea, “It makes a difference to this one.” Her grandfather then joins her, hurling starfish back into the sea. (Adapted from the Star Thrower by Loren C. Eiseley)

At Girl Scout Camp, we learned graces, prayers that were said before meals to thank G-d for the bounty of the earth. My favorite was one that goes like this:

“Back of the bread is the flour and back of the flour is the mill and back of the mill is the wind and the rain and the father’s will.”

What we learn from these stories is that the Father’s will, is not enough. It has to be G-d together with us, committed to being partners and co-creators in a covenantal relationship that will help save this precious Creation.

But perhaps the song I should leave you with is one written by Hannah Shenesh. Hannah lived on a kibbutz near Caesaria. She was a poet and she was a paratrooper. During WWII she was parachuted behind enemy lines in Hungary where she was captured and murdered in Auschwitz. This is her song,

Eli Eli
Shelo v’gamer l’olam
Hachol v’hayam
Rishrush shel hamayim
Barak hashamayim
Tefilat ha’adam

Oh Lord, my G-d
I pray that these things never end
The sand and the sea
The rush of the water
The crash of the heavens
The prayer of the heart.

Together, as part of our covenant with G-d, we can make that so. We must. It is part of our covenantal relationship. You can make that difference. You can tip the scale. Amen!

10 Ways You Can Help the Planet: The Ripple Effect

1. Use less water. Turn off the water while you are brushing your teeth. Fix the leaky toilet or sink. You can save 200 gallons a day. Or try a low flush toilet like they have at the Morton Arboretum. Install a rain barrel as we will here to water the community garden.. Try tap water—or filtered water rather than all the plastic bottles. Wash your clothes in cold water.
2. Leave your car at home. If you can stay off the road just two days a week you can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 15,90 pounds per year according to the EPA. So combine your errands. It will save gas and time.
3. Walk or ride your bike to work. Do what Pastor Katie from Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren does. Bike. All over town. Great for health as you burn some calories. If you can’t walk or ride (or run)—try mass transit or carpooling. One of the great things about Elgin is the Metra—quick and easy way to get into Chicago and now the Pace Bus over at Jane Addams. Also the series of bike trails. Try the one along the river.
4. It reduces pollution just by remembering to put the bottle or can in the recycling bin. Here at CKI we have single stream recycling—and we have bins in the office and the kitchen.
5. We used to have compost here at CKI. It would be great to start up again as a way to feed our community garden and keep additional “trash” out of our landfill.
6. Look up. The lights above you are now LEDs, using on average 2/3rds less energy. Our newest appliances at CKI are Energy Star rated. Energy Star estimates that since December 2013 it has helped families and businesses save $295 billion on utility bills and prevented more that 2.3 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions from being released in the past two decades. My dream is to one day have a solar ner tamid, our Eternal Light. My teacher Rabbi Everett Gendler, installed and dedicated the first solar ner tamid in 1978 at Temple Emanuel of the Merrimack Valley. The sun is eternal—or at least we think. This is an important symbolic act—because our actions matter.
7. Make your home—and CKI—more energy efficient. It saves money. Clean your air filter. Get a programmable thermostat—as CKI has already done. Reduce the temperature when you are sleeping.
8. Maintain your car. Underinflated tires decrease fuel economy and increase air pollution. And underinflation increases tire wear, so you will save money—on gas and new tires. While you are at it:
9. Drive smarter. Drive slower. Save more gas. Save more money.
10. Turn off lights when you are not in the room and unplug appliances when you are not using them.

https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/save-earth-top-ten1.htm

Sometimes my congregation wonders when personal time and work time differ. Sometimes it isn’t clear. Sometimes I do things that are “rabbinic” for the greater good or because as a rabbi I am asked to do so, I feel called to. This is one of those weekends.

Tisha B’av is the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. We mourn the destruction of both Holy Temples, the expulsion of the Jews from England and then from Spain. Personally I mourn the death of my mother-in-law which also occurred on Tisha B’av.

Traditionally this is a day marked with fasting, not wearing leather, singing dirges in low tones on low stools. Since the founding of the State of Israel, some of that has seemed less mournful. Sometimes there are other things we also mourn: the Holocaust, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, climate change, various incursions and intifadas in modern day Israel. Some years I think why are we still mourning; it has no relevance. Then every year there is something that makes me continue the tradition.

This is one of those years.

Part One:
Shabbat suspends the 3 weeks of mourning. Nonetheless the Shabbat before Tisha B’av is called Shabbat Hazon, the Sabbath of Vision. This past week we saw the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, 7 killed and 46 wounded in Chicago and the first and I hope only murder of the year in Elgin. How could I not, as we move into Tisha B’av, as we read the words of Isaiah, talk about violence.

Part Two:
My husband and I attended a service at a neighboring synagogue. The premise was to read parts of the Book of Eicha and then a discussion group of “From Victimhood to Victory: The Dilemma of Suffering and Forgiveness.” It was a rich evening of exploring how working the 12 Step Program from Alcoholic Anonymous can help people overcome personal trauma and not feel like a victim.

Part Three:
I was asked to preach at Rogation Sunday, a Sunday in the Episcopal Church set aside to bless the soil, water and seeds. In some places you actually bless the tractors. The priest, Don Frye, a good friend wanted me to talk about our connection to the land and our responsibility as caretakers of Creation to partner with G-d to live out the covenant. Many have made the connection between climate change, the burning up of the earth and mourning for those Temples that burned. I was happy, yes, even on Tisha B’av, to bring a message of covenant, partnership and responsibility. It was a very meaningful morning. (And I am very appreciative of the daisy plant I received since Margaret means daisy pearl.)

Part Four:
My husband came to me sometime last week and asked if I knew about this event in Kankakee about refugees and Tisha B’av. It seemed like the appropriate way to mark his mother’s yahrzeit since his mother had done so much around refugee resettlement. In fact all of the Kleins have, coming out of our uniquely Jewish experience. I tried not to laugh. I was on the planning committee and had a small speaking part. Because really, where else would I be on Tisha B’av, a holiday dedicated to mourning how we as a people became exiled.

Turns out Kankakee is further than we thought and we were late. But we ran into lots of friends and colleagues from the wider Jewish community. There were tears as stories were told of unspeakable tragedies forcing other immigrants to leave their countries, the homelands, the land of their birth, the parents home (hear the echoes of Abraham and Sarah? It was deliberate!) and came to this country some of who have faced unspeakable tragedies here. But speak them we must. I hear the most haunting was Rabbi Maralee Gordon chanting some of those stories in Eicha trope.

I spoke briefly. Said that my family has worked on refugee resettlement for decades and that I have a Guatemalan son-in-law that was airlifted off a football field in 1983 and a Cambodian nephew rescued from the killing fields. They are both American citizens now. And they are the lucky ones.

For me, the most uplifting and affirming was singing Hashiveinu which comes out of Eicha/Lamentations and is central to the Torah service and to the High Holiday liturgy.

Turn us back, turn us back, O LORD to You
and we will return,
renew, renew our days as before.

Then I blew shofar with four other shofar blowers.

That’s the spirit in which I return from Kankakee, ready to prepare for the High Holidays. (In truth that preparation is already underway, way underway.)

We turn now to Tu B’av and are reminded that the solution of sinat chinam, baseless hatred is ahavat chinam, baseless love. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love the sojourner. Don’t stand idly by while your neighbor bleeds. Love.

(The words of this weekend’s d’vrei Torah will be available shortly. But first rest.)

Today we were treated to an example of leadership. Leadership by example. Today I helped celebrate a Bar Mitzvah of a special young man. He chose as his project to host a soccer scrimmage game for an organization called Soccer for Peace. And then he role modeled that peace. For Ein Keholenu he taught one of his teammates the Hebrew words and they led it together. For Adon Olam, he taught one of his teammates the Hebrew words and they led it together. A Jewish American Mongolian Bar Mitzvah and an Indian American. A Jewish American Mongolian Bar Mitzvah and a Latino. Peace through prayer. Peace through soccer. For one shining moment.

We talked extensively about “Love your neighbor as yourself,” as we plan for National Night Out. As we “borrow” our neighbors’ church parking lots and the funeral home’s lot across the street.

While we were singing, there was another mass shooting. This time at a WalMart in El Paso. I’ve been to a Bnei Mitzvah at the synagogue in El Paso. My twin niece and nephew. That was a day of peace too. I know the rabbi in El Paso. He has done a lot of research and work with “hidden Jews”, the descendants of Jews who came to the New World escaping the Spanish Inquisition. Every year, in a community that is 47% Hispanic, someone sits in my office and tells me they think they might be Jewish because their grandmother lights candles on Friday night or they fast on one special day in September or they never eat pork. And I think of Rabbi Stephen Leon.

I know the rabbi in Las Cruces, Rabbi Larry Karol from when he was the rabbi in Dover, NH. He was only 48 miles away from the shooting. He was worked extensively with refugees and asylum seekers. In Las Cruces and in Dover.

I spoke words this morning about the connection between peace and land. I even told a Mongolian coming of age story. You see, this morning’s Bar Mitzvah is the child of a mother born in Mongolia and a father from Long Island. Her father came to the United States, like many to follow the American dream.

What I didn’t talk about, choosing instead to celebrate this young man, was the idea of sanctuary cities. I have spoken about them before. How we need to have one law for citizen and sojourner alike. How we need to protect the widow, the orphan and the stranger. All of that was in today’s Torah portion. Instead, I talked about inheritance. The Torah is his inheritance. However his words and his actions give me hope on a very dark day.

My remarks:

Take a deep breath. Look around. Smile. You did it…but that was never in doubt, was it?

Your Torah portion, was you’ve just taught us, is about the daughters of Zelophefad. Now Zelophad had no sons, and back in the day, his land would just revert to common property. No one to inherit, right?

Wrong. The daughters of Zelophefed stood up for themselves. Spoke out to Moses who then questioned G-d and the daughters inherited their father’s land.

Today is about your inheritance. When we passed down the Torah to you, from generation to generation, you received an inheritance. You are a link in that chain. When we practiced that on Thursday, there were tears from your grand parents. I can’t say for certain, but I imagine that those were tears of joy and pride, naches in Yiddish. I know that you are the only grandchild who had a Bar or Bat Mitzvah and you then have become that chain.

When Israel stood to receive the Torah, the Holy One said to them: “I am prepared to give you My Torah. Present to Me good guarantors that you will observe and study the Torah and I shall give it to you.”

They said: “Our ancestors are our guarantors.”

The Holy One said: “Your ancestors are not sufficient guarantors. Bring Me good guarantors, and I shall give you the Torah.”

They said: “Our prophets are our guarantors.”

The Holy One said: “The prophets are not sufficient guarantors. Bring Me good guarantors and I shall give you the Torah.”

They said: “Indeed, our children will be our guarantors.”

The Holy One said: “Your children are good guarantors. For their sake I give the Torah to you.”

You are that guarantor.

I often tell another the story, that of Honi the Circle Drawer. Peninah Schram tells it this way:

“Honi the Wise One was also known as Honi the Circle Maker. By drawing a circle and stepping inside of it, he would recite special prayers for rain, sometimes even argue with God during a drought, and the rains would come. He was, indeed, a miracle maker. As wise as he was, Honi sometimes saw something that puzzled him. Then he would ask questions so he could unravel the mystery. One day, Honi the Circle Maker was walking on the road and saw a man planting a carob tree. Honi asked the man, “How long will it take for this tree to bear fruit?” The man replied, “Seventy years.” Honi then asked the man, “And do you think you will live another seventy years and eat the fruit of this tree?”

The man answered, “Perhaps not. However, when I was born into this world, I found many carob trees planted by my father and grandfather. Just as they planted trees for me, I am planting trees for my children and grandchildren so they will be able to eat the fruit of these trees.”

You are the inheritor of two traditions…there is a lovely little book, The Blue Sky, about the coming of age of a little (the book doesn’t say how little) boy born in Mongolia. Tucked high in the Altai Mountains, the nomadic Tuvan people’s ancient way of life is colliding with modernity. Sound familiar? The young Sheppard boy, Dshurukuwaa (I can’t pronounce his name either, Yuna!) goes through a coming of age challenge. His older siblings leave the family yurt to attend boarding school. His grandmother dies and they lose the connection to the ancient traditions and their deep relationship with the land. And then his dog dies, what he believed was “all that was left to him.” The boy keeps asking despairing questions, like why is this happening to me. And the Heavenly Blue Sky only answers in the silence of the wind.

That is either very Buddhist or very Jewish. Or both. My father used to say that a good Jew is someone who questions, thinks and argues. Keep asking those deep questions and listening for the answers and making them your own.

These were a nomadic people. People who wandered. Not in the desert like the Israelites, but wandered in the mountains. Today you completed reading the Book of Numbers, Bamidbar, in the wilderness. On the land. Soon, in our sacred story telling, the Israelites wandering will be over. But that wandering brought the Israelites closer together and gave them strength! It taught them and unified their traditions which became their inheritance.

When you play soccer under a deep blue sky, you have a connection to the land, as you run up and down the field. That connection to your teammates, and the land and your love of the game, led you to explore Soccer for Peace, an organization that promotes peace in the Middle East by allowing boys and girls to play soccer in war torn towns. Places where they are fighting over the land. Who owns it? Who gets to inherit it? Even who gets to play soccer on it.

Wednesday night, I encourage any of you to come out to play soccer, even if you’ve never played before. We’ll just have fun kicking a ball around. No headers though—we don’t need any more concussions!

The Torah is your inheritance—and you are our guarantor.

Brandon, you have a deep connection to your people. You have a deep connection to the land and to soccer and to your friends. Like Honi and the little boy in Mongolia, you ask deep questions. Keep asking those questions, Keep listening for those answers.

Last week I didn’t think my Torah discussion went well. Every now and then it just doesn’t flow.

This week we are going to continue our discussion of haftarah and prophesy. During the discussion, one of you asked a really important question. How do we recognize a prophet—as opposed to maybe a quack. And while there is a history of false prophets, distinguishing that voice can be difficult.

Distinguishing that voice is important. Later in the week I saw a quote about if the voice is telling you to champion the widow, the orphan, the stranger, then it is real. Otherwise, it is false. I went back to the person and got the original source:

“Sometimes in history the name of God has been invoked on behalf of actions and movements that have ennobled the human soul and lifted the body politic to a higher plane. Take the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., and the American civil rights movement, or Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the struggle against South African apartheid, as examples. Other times religious fervor has been employed for the worst kinds of sectarian and violent purposes. The Ku Klux Klan, the troubles in Northern Ireland, the wars in the former Yugoslavia, and David Koresh’s Branch Davidian standoff in Waco, Texas, are frightening examples.

Is there a reliable guide to when we are really hearing the voice of God, or just a self-interested or even quite ungodly voice in the language of heaven? I think there is. Who speaks for God? When the voice of God is invoked on behalf of those who have no voice, it is time to listen. But when the name of God is used to benefit the interests of those who are speaking, it is time to be very careful.”
― Jim Wallis, Who Speaks for God?

That is one answer. A prophet is someone who speaks out for the marginalized. The widow, the orphan, the stranger.

A few months ago, in a class on “Finding Meaning” one member of the class objected to a reading by Lord Rabbi Sacks, the Chief Rabbi Emeritus of Great Britain who talked about teaching as a calling. This former teacher had never thought of teaching that way and didn’t think that Jews used that term. It led to an interesting conversation about whether the pastor across the street is called and whether I as a rabbi am called.

This week we read about Jeremiah beginning with Jeremiah’s call. Jeremiah was a historical figure. One of the reasons we know he was real, is that we have found the seal of Baruch, Jeremiah’s scribe. Now some have argued that it is a fake…and you are welcome to read all that material online, but if you conclude that you are arguing with the chief archeologist of Israel, a professor at Tel Aviv University and the Israel Museum where it is displayed. Me, I find the seal, called a bulla, thrilling.

We have a timeline. In 627 BCE Jeremiah received his call. In 622 Jeremiah explained the covenant and the Israelites obligations. In 609 Jeremiah proclaimed that the covenant was indeed broken and that dire things were about to happen if the Israelites didn’t “return”, perform teshuvah. And, he was there to witness the fall of Jerusalem, just as he predicted in 586 BCE.

The history fascinates me, but what do we mean when we say some one like Jeremiah is called?

During the discussion there were a number of answers, ranging from everyone has gifts to share and that is their calling. No one is really called. A sense of the difference between being compelled or being obligated to do something. It is that sense you can’t do anything else. (I joked about second career rabbis!) But maybe that word should be impelled and that it is the difference between an external driver and an internal driver. And one person who explained that scientists who warn about climate change might be the modern day prophets, scientifically based. It was a very rich discussion. It is actually the kind of moment that thrills me as a rabbi and brings joy. And it mirrored some of the other material I had studied for the purpose of this very discussion:

The sense of call is, in fact, very Jewish, Biblical, but we have often surrendered that language to Christians. When I was applying to rabbinical school people actually warned me NOT to use the language of call because I should sound too Christian or too crazy, even if I had that internal sense.

Yet the very beginning of the Book of Leviticus, Vayikra is Hebrew means, “And G-d called.” That’s what Vayikra means. It is important to note that in every Torah scroll the last letter of Vayikra, aleph is written smaller than the other letters. Every single scroll. Why a little aleph?

Now aleph is a silent letter. It is almost impossible to hear the silent sound of aleph. Rabbi Larry Kushner tells a wonderful midrash in his book, The Book of Miracles, where he explains that the Aleph is what enables us to have a conversation. The commentary on Vayikra however, the sages teach us that the word can either mean “He encountered or he chanced upon,” or “And he called.” Rabbi Sacks, continuing our discussion from last week, says, “What is the difference between the prophets of Israel and the prophets of the pagan nations of the world? . . . R. Hama ben Hanina said: The Holy One blessed be He reveals himself to the pagan nations by an incomplete form of address, as it is said, “And the Lord appeared to Bilaam”, whereas to the prophets of Israel He appears in a complete form of address, as it is said, “And He called to Moses.”

So the question becomes, if prophecy ceased with Ezra and Nehemiah as we talked about last week, can we hear G-d’s voice today?

Psalm 29 talks about G-d’s powerful voice 7 times. We know that song…Kol Adonai. We sing it on Friday night and as part of the Torah service. This is G-d’s booming voice thundering above all, shattering cedars and splitting rocks. We also have “bat kol” in the Talmud, the voice of G-d swooping down in some kind of “deus ex machina” manner.

On the other hand, we have Elijah’s notion of the still, small voice, something internal, eternal, something inside of us.

This seems to be echoed in the words of Jeremiah’s call:
“Before I created you in the womb, I selected you; Before you were born, I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet concerning the nations.” Jeremiah 1

Which seems to be echoed in Psalm 139:
“You shaped me inside and out. You have made my veins; You have knit me together in my mother’s

Sometimes people have the sense that there is something G-d wants them to do. That they were fortunate to be born with certain intrinsic traits. I have used this following quote so often, it may be familiar to many of you. Frederick Buechner talks about call this way: “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”

However Lord Rabbi Sacks points out that there is a difference between vocation and gift. You can be a gifted pianist but that isn’t necessarily what you are called to do. He goes on to talk about Viktor Frankl, the therapist that survived Auschwitz by searching for meaning. As Sacks explains, “There in the camp he dedicated himself to giving people the will to live. He did so by getting them to see that their lives were not finished, that they still had a task to perform, and that therefore they had a reason to survive until the war was over. Frankl insisted that the call came from outside the self. He used to say that the right question was not “What do I want from life?” but “What does life want from me?

What does life want from me? Figuring out the answer to that is figuring out what your unique call might be.

Rabbi Amy Eilberg, the first woman Conservative Rabbi talks about call in these terms:

“You have to look more closely to find the individual sense of mission or calling in the Jewish texts, but it is there. One example from the Hasidic mystical tradition is the concept of shlichut, which means agency or mission, from the word “to send.” The language of sending in the book of Isaiah says to God, “Here I am. Send me.” So this language speaks to each person having a particular shlichut of something that they’re sent toward.”

Rabbi Michael Strassfeld the author of the Jewish Catalog, and one of the founders of Jewish Renewal said this:
“Though work is our vocation, it has the potential to accomplish tikkun olam, “repair of the world.” Every job, every work interaction has value. There are those who believe that each of us is chosen for a particular task to perform in the world. Rav Zutra said: What is the meaning of this verse: ‘God made everything beautiful in its time’ (Ecclesiastes 3:11)? This teaches that the Holy One made everyone’s craft appear beautiful in their eyes” (Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 58a).

Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin, a Reform rabbi who wrote Putting G-d of the Guest List for Bar Mitzvah families wrote Being G-d’s Partner, the What Color is Your Parachute for Jews. It is the book that if I loan it out, it won’t come back. He tells an important, poignant story, especially today as Simon and I are in the middle of a move:

“The boss of the moving crew was a delightful, crusty gentleman, a dead ringer for Willie Nelson. I had never met anyone so enthusiastic about his or her work, and I asked him the source of that enthusiasm.

“‘Well, you see, I’m a religious man,’ he answered, ‘and my work is part of my religious mission.’

“‘What do you mean?’ I asked.

“‘Well, its like this. Moving is hard for most people. It’s a very vulnerable time for them. People are nervous about going to a new community, and about having strangers pack their most precious possessions. So, I think God wants me to treat my customers with love and to make them feel that I care about their things and their life. God wants me to help make their changes go smoothly. If I can be happy about it, maybe they can be, too’”

There you have it…a sense of call from Orthodox, Reform, Conservative and Jewish Renewal rabbis. That’s good for our vision of “Embracing Diversity.”

Clearly some of calling or vocation is about your work identity. But what if you are no longer working? What if you have retired? What happens now?

The Talmud teaches us that it is necessary to balance work and Torah study (Pirke Avot). But perhaps, just perhaps, retirement is a kind of Shabbat, which is also a calling. We are called to rest. We are called to observe Shabbat. That is an entire sermon in itself.

In another important book, Wise Aging, by Rachel Cowen, z’l, she reminds us that each of us has a purpose. Perhaps then purpose = calling.

Frankl believed that “Every human person constitutes something unique; each situation in life occurs only once. The concrete task of any person is relative to this uniqueness and singularity.”[5] The essence of the task, he argued, is that it is self-transcending. It comes from outside the self and challenges us to live beyond mere self-interest. To discover such a task is to find that life – my life – has meaning and purpose.

Our challenge then:
What is that one task you are uniquely here to do?

Have you ever looked up at the moon? Really, really looked. Look up tonight and be amazed. Once, exactly 50 years ago today, a man walked on the moon.

At services today, we had Oreo cookies, made just for this moment, and used a  milk glass from that day when “the eagle has landed.” Many of us gathered today remember exactly where we were and with whom. One said it was the best family time they ever spent.

“One small step for mankind. One giant leap for mankind.”

What is our fascination with the moon? It is beautiful. It waxes and wanes. As Jews, our calendar is a modified lunar calendar. Women celebrated each Rosh Hodesh, the beginning of a new month when just a sliver becomes visible again. It brings with it hope and renewal. Many of our holidays are full moon holidays. Sukkot, Tu B’shevat, Purim, Passover, all begin when the moon is full.

The LORD said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back before the Pact, to be kept as a lesson to rebels, so that their mutterings against Me may cease, lest they die.”

Korach challenged Moses’s leadership, and by extension G-d. Korach and his followers.

Our text picks up just after the rebellion. After G-d smote Korach and his followers. What is going on here?

When is rebellion OK and when is it not?

This is a weekend we celebrate another rebellion. The American Revolution. The idea that a band of rebels, the Sons of Liberty, would rise up and declare independence from England. That they would reject a king’s rule.

What is the difference between what the early American patriots, you know their names…People like Sam Adams, John Adams, and Abigail, Paul Revere, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson did. Even Dickinson who rebelled in a different way, what they did and what Korach did?

Korach did it not for the people but because he felt he would be a better leader than Moses. He was ego driven. It was about him. He did not have the best interests of the people at heart.

Now it is true that in order to be a leader you need a certain amount of ego. But ego-driven leadership is something that the business community riles against.

http://themojocompany.com/2014/01/10-traits-of-ego-driven-leaders/#sthash.paOQmJLD.dpbs

1. Often measure their success by how much others notice their success. It becomes more about being the center of attention than it does about actually being successful in and of itself.
2. Often feel better about themselves when others around them don’t achieve or earn as much as they do.
3. Tend to undermine othersso that they can appear to themselves and others to be smarter, better, etc.
4. Tend to drive others away over time. It’s incredibly taxing working for an ego-driven leader, because…
5. Tend to destroy trustand attempt to control others through whatever means necessary. This is exhausting for those who work with these leaders.
6. Are always looking for more praise, always looking for the next spotlight.
7. Status supplants service as the true, underlying motivator.
8. Tend to be easily offended, even if their own behavior toward others is far more egregious. They’re quick to call others defensive, and quick to point out what they perceive to be faulty attitudes in others.
9. Tend to have a burning desire to be right. Every. Single. Time. Or so it seems to those around them.
10. Very rarely admit their faults without somehow rationalizing or blaming others.

http://themojocompany.com/2014/01/10-traits-of-ego-driven-leaders/#sthash.paOQmJLD.dpbs

We’ve probably all worked for this kind of leader, sometime in our careers. It isn’t fun. And Korach was dangerous. The proof that is offered of is how many were killed as part of the rebellion.

On the other hand, Moses, was humble. We looked at that recently. “Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.” (Numbers 12:1)

“And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,” Deuteronomy 34:10

We know from this that Moses was humble, very humble and had a unique ability to communicate. He wasn’t perfect. Perfection isn’t the goal. These are important qualities in a leader.

Aaron was a communicator too. He was the mouthpiece of Moses in Egypt. He was a man of peace as Pirke Avot tells us, “Hillel would say: Be of the disciples of Aaron – a lover of peace, a pursuer of peace …” (Pirkei Avot 1:12).

Why? He kept his peace when his sons were killed, seemingly zapped. He made peace by facilitating the building of the Golden Calf. He did not participate in the gossip about Moses that caused Miriam to be punished.

The commentaries explain how Aaron is a rodef shalom, a pursuer of peace:

“Two people were having a quarrel. Aaron went and sat with one of the disputants and said to him, ‘My son, look what your friend is saying; he is distraught and is tearing his clothing.’ The disputant says, ‘Woe to me! How can I look at my friend and see his shame as I am the one who has wronged him.’ …” (and Aaron is doing the same with the other disputant) “When the two met each other, they hugged and kissed in reconciliation” (Avot D’Rabbi Natan, version A, chapter 12).

To pursue is usually a verb related to waging war. The Torah is setting up a different model of leadership. One where leaders pursue justice, as it says “Justice, Justice shall you pursue.” And “Seek peace and pursue it.” It is not, as some suggested a weak form of leadership. It is the very measure of strength.

That is part of what we are celebrating this weekend. Compare Korach’s ego driven leadership with the words of the Declaration of Independence, the very document we are celebrating:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

All the people, however that is defined and that is the subject of much debate, all the people are created b’tzelem elohim, in the image of G-d and as such have rights.

George Washington understood this so very well when he was writing to the Jewish Community of Newport RI.

Gentlemen:

While I received with much satisfaction your address replete with expressions of esteem, I rejoice in the opportunity of assuring you that I shall always retain grateful remembrance of the cordial welcome I experienced on my visit to Newport from all classes of citizens.

The reflection on the days of difficulty and danger which are past is rendered the more sweet from a consciousness that they are succeeded by days of uncommon prosperity and security.

If we have wisdom to make the best use of the advantages with which we are now favored, we cannot fail, under the just administration of a good government, to become a great and happy people.

The citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy—a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship.

It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights, for, happily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.

It would be inconsistent with the frankness of my character not to avow that I am pleased with your favorable opinion of my administration and fervent wishes for my felicity…G. Washington

https://www.tourosynagogue.org/history-learning/gw-letter

May there come a time when we are not so ego-driven as Korach, where we are as humble as Moses and pursuers of peace as Aaron. Then as Isaiah and G. Washington himself suggested at the conclusion of his letter,” may all the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants—while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid.”

Later in the morning, during the usual time for the prayer for our country, we read the prayer written by the Jewish community of Richmond, VA. This prayer fascinates me because it is an acrostic spelling out G. Washington’s name. It is also fascinating because of the number of names of G-d it uses. It maybe the very prayer I use at City Council when I do the invocation on Wednesday night. I am always amazed that we Jews have garnered enough respect in this country, with the vision no less of Washington himself, that rabbis like me are called in to do such invocations.

Prayer for the Government in honor of George Washington, First President of the United States of America by K.K. Beit Shalome (1789)

Friday night I attended a Lights of Liberty event. There was a lot of online rabbinic chatter about how to do this and still observe Shabbat. I chose to go by hosting Shabbat dinner for some friends and then we all went. The event was scheduled in Elgin between 7 and 8 and before candlelighting at 8:11. There was opportunity for teaching about this important topic, some laughter and since my congregation has no formal services on Friday in the summer, a chance to host Shabbat dinner, something my husband and I miss in the summer.

The event itself was important. It filled Christ the Lord Lutheran Church. The pastor there talked about Jesus as a refugee and what happened when his church in Manhattan put up a sign that said Immigrants Welcome. It was smeared with as he put it crap. But Jesus, born in a manger, was used to crap. Jesus taught us to “Love our neighbors as ourselves and to welcome the stranger. Jesus taught us to feed the stranger and offer drink to the thirsty. To everyone. There were remarks from other clergy. The singing of This Land is Your Land and We Shall Overcome. We were assured by the mayor of Elgin that we will not help ICE if they come to Elgin. That he has directed the police to protect the rights of residents and not to help ICE. The powerful remarks of the executive director of Women on the Border. And the haunting, first hand accounts of children separated from their parents, telling horrific first hand accounts of deplorable conditions. I didn’t know if I was listening to stories of children at Terezin from the book, “I never saw another butterfly” or current stories here.

People wanted a copy of my remarks, some of which are repeated from a recent sermon:

You might think that the scarf I am wearing is my prayer shawl, my tallit, or a symbol of pride. It actually is neither. I chose to wear this tonight because I purchased it in Guatemala, when I was there as a Global Justice Fellow with American Jewish World Service. My Kippah, is also from Guatemala. One of the most remarkable memories of that trip was the statue to their hero, the migrant who has made it to the United States and sends back money to their relatives left behind.

I have a Guatemalan son-in-law who in 1983 was airlifted off a football field in Guatemala City in 1983, when the violence in Guatemala was unspeakable and people were being “disappeared”. That is a euphemism for kidnapped and killed. No, murdered.

I have a nephew, who my brother-in-law and sister-in-law rescued from the Killing Fields of Cambodia. He is now an American citizen with an electrical engineering degree from the University of Arizona, married to an Israeli and working for the US Navy.

They are the lucky ones. They made it here and have “made it in America”. Exactly the kind of citizens we want in this country. I often hear about the “rule of law” and that we in America need to uphold the “rule of law”. That’s why we need to separate these illegal children and that’s why we need to deport these people. Let me be clear. We in the United States are not upholding our own law. And no person is illegal.

Let me tell you another story: The story of Greta. Greta was a teenager when she arrived in Saint Louis and was rescued by my mother’s own family: My mother’s own words, “My first recollection of Greta Westerfeld was her German accent and her long braids. She was the first of the children sent for safety in St. Louis to escape the War in Europe. I imagine she was terrified. She came to live with the Friedmans who were not related and a middle-aged childless couple. When they took her to my stepfather, the pediatrician, he said, “I have a kid her age. We must get them together.” The Friedmans didn’t know much about ten year olds, but always made me feel welcome in their house…At first Greta was very shy. And even her clothes were different. She word dark skirts with white blouses and long wool stockings. I guess my mother helped Mrs. Friedman buy American clothes like the other kids wore. Greta went to our school, joined our Girl Scout troop, went camping with us and became part of the group. We all knew she worried about her family who were still in Germany and dreaded their fate.”

Often times I hear people say, “We didn’t know what was happening in Europe during the war.” The Jewish community of Saint Louis in the 30s and 40s certainly knew what was happening in Europe, and tried, despite closed borders, to desperately rescue as many people as possible. Greta’s family did not survive. Greta eventually married and moved to New Jersey to begin her new life. What my mother doesn’t say in her account that I remember so vividly. She died in the late 1960s. Much like in the novel Sarah’s Key, some said of a broken heart. That’s a euphemism. Let’s be clear. All those years later, she killed herself.

My family, because of the Holocaust has worked on refugee issues for decades. We’ve worked as attorneys, immigration judges, real estate agents and/or social workers with the immigrant community, sponsors, foster parents and I did an internship with Refugee Immigration Ministry which works with asylum seekers in Massachusetts. As part of that internship we fought against for profit jails. That was 2001. Jails that were housing children. That was a year we all remember. On the Friday after 9/11, at our weekly staff meeting the executive director said that our clients were now at risk and fearful. If the United States was under attack, they wondered, where else could they run. Haunting.

We’ve done all that because our US borders were not open when Jews in Europe needed it most. The story of the USS Saint Louis haunts us and like Jews everywhere we have vowed to remember, to never forget and to pledge Never Again to anyone anywhere.

None of that matters. Let me be clear. Very, very clear. Our country’s policy on immigration, detention and deportation is wrong. Period. The idea that children are forcibly removed from their parents is unconsciousable. And like Greta likely to cause permanent damage.

The Jewish tradition is clear. 36 times in Torah it tells us to take care of the widow, the orphan, the stranger. The ger in Hebrew, the soujouner, the resident alien, the person who has chosen to join with us. There is to be one law for citizen and sojourner alike. One law. I have the full list of quotes.

But none of that matters. The only thing that matters is that we stop these raids that are supposed to begin this weekend. Now. That we close these detention centers. Now. That we return children who have been separated from their parents. Now. That we uphold US and international law concerning refugees and asylum seekers. That we provide clean, safe water, adequate food, blankets, soap, toothbrushes, and medical attention. Now. Otherwise, we are no better than the repressive regimes we have sent our troops into fight around the world. Otherwise there will be other Gretas and Henrys and Edgars. The time is now.

My tradition is clear. Love your neighbor. Love the stranger. The time is now.

This week we got a notice on the front of our building. It was a boil water notice. We didn’t find it until Friday. But it said we would not have any water until 11Pm on Thursday. However, we knew as soon as the water was turned off. No water to wash hands, to drink on a hot summer’s day or to flush the toilets. It was a water main break. Not the only one in Elgin this week.

As we watched water gushing from a hydrant, I was reminded of the poem:

“Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink.” Coleridge, Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Water. It is an essential element. H20. We can’t live without it. We were born in it. 60% of our bodies are water. We are told to stay hydrated in the summer especially. Drink your water. TODAY. It will be very hot. They are saying it on all the news.

The recommendation is 64 ounces of water. Pure, clean, water. That’s a gallon. That’s a privilege.

Now imagine not having access to water. Maybe you are wandering in the desert, an ancient Israelite, like in our portion today. Maybe you visiting Israel. Lishdot, Lishdot, Lishdot. Drink, Drink, Drink, the madricim, the tour guides call out. Tepid water out of a hot canteen or a warm plastic bottle is not too appealing. Ice doesn’t exist much in the desert but drink you must. Maybe you live in Tucson, like Simon’s siblings. When we first started visiting them in Tucson, I didn’t like drinking water. But Simon’s mother was insistent. And iced tea doesn’t count.

Maybe you live in Flint. Five years after the crisis began, it may finally be getting better, NPR reports. The last pipe needing replacing has been. But the jury is out on whether the children have been permanently damaged by the lead and the unemployment is still sky high. https://www.npr.org/2019/04/25/717104335/5-years-after-flints-crisis-began-is-the-water-safe

Maybe you live in Guatemala.

Guatemala has been in the news a lot this weekend. Part of the reason we hear about the violence in Guatemala is a fight over land rights and water rights. It is part of what I learned about when I traveled to Guatemala as part of American Jewish World Service. It is part of what I spoke about last night at a Lights of Liberty event.

While Guatemala’s constitution guarantees the right to clean and safe water (The US Constitution does no such thing), Guatemala and El Salvador are the only two Central American countries to not have legislation to protect the right to water access or regulate its use. So big international mining companies come in and prevent access to water by the indigenous people. This causes an increase in violence. It also creates a huge issue with pollution. Lake Atilan, one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited, is one of the most polluted, fresh water lakes. This impacts access to safe drinking water, and threatens the economy of the region.

Under the slogan, “Water is life”, thousands have marched from the border of Mexico to the coast, some 260 miles, to demand that the Guatemalan government protect the right and access to fresh water.

http://upsidedownworld.org/archives/guatemala/water-is-life-guatemalan-march-for-water-rights-connects-struggles-across-latin-america/

Yes, people fight. To the death over water. In Tucson there were two recent trials of people providing water to migrants. Leaving gallon jugs of bottled water out in the hot Sonoran desert sun. In one case, four were convicted in January. In the other, in June, the jury was deadlocked. When did it become a crime to give someone water? How does this fit with our Jewish values?

Yes, people fight. To the death over water. Abraham signed a treaty with Abimelech to guarantee access to wells. Isaac did too. Beersheva either means Seven Wells or Well of Oath, because the treaty was signed there. Water provides more than physical nourishment. It also provides spiritual nourishment. Who has not been refreshed by watching a sunset over a body of water? Wells are also where you might find your soulmate. Hagar found G-d. Rebecca was led to Isaac. Jacob found Rachel and Leah. Moses found Zipporah.

Water is life.

Bottled water may not be. Bottled water actually hurts the environment. The bottlers harm the environment by depleting aquifers and other groundwater sources. They have an impact on the local economies because they pay little, and in some cases nothing for the water they take. They can take the maximum amount they want, without regard for drought or water shortage or regard for the local needs of the people, like we discussed about Guatemala.

Plastic bottles are not sustainable. They require too much fossil fuels to manufacture, fill and ship. Nor are they biodegradable. 6 out of 7 plastic bottles in the US are “downcycled” and not recycled. Some bottled water is merely tap water at 10,000 times the cost. As much as 25% of bottled water may come from the tap. Bottled water may contain mold, microbes, benzene leached from the plastic and even more recently arsenic.

https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-11193/7-reasons-to-never-drink-bottled-water-again.html

So what do we do at CKI.? We have taken steps to reduce the numbers of plastic bottles we use here. You have probably noticed the pretty decanters with ice water, usually one plain and one infused with fruit. Drink it. Enjoy it. Drink deeply from it.

Our portion today starts just after the death of Miriam. Miriam, whose name means bitter waters is very much associated with water. We know her as placing Baby Moses in the basket on the Nile, for singing at the shores of the sea and for finding water while the Israelites were wandering in the desert. But then she dies.

“And the children of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin on the first new moon and the people dwelled there at Kadesh. And Miriam died there and was buried there. And there was not water for the community and they joined against Moses and Aaron.” (Numbers 20:1-2)

Once Miriam dies, the Israelite can no longer find water. “Spring up O Well.” They sing. Debbie Friedman, z’l gave us a lovely song using this very verse:

Lyrics:
Spring up a well, and sing ye unto it
Spring up a well, and sing ye unto it

CHORUS:
Oh the water in the well and the healing in the well
The women and the water and the hope that’s in the well (x2)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jJXCpEqO54

The verses of Debbie Friedman’s song are actually based on the midrashim about Miriam. They explain that this well, Miriam’s Well, followed the Israelites and provided the water. With her death, the well disappeared. (Ta;anit 9A). Rashi comments, saying that the rock that “Moses struck with his rod, in verse 11, was actually the no longer functional Miriam’s Well. When the Israelites complained, yes, they were kvetching again, that there were “no grain or figs or vines or pomegranates (20:4), they were expressing their profound alarm that the mayyim hayyim, the living waters that had once watered their gardens, herbs, seeds and trees and dried up. (Sefer Ha’Aggadah)

Miriam, and her well, were the source of mayyim hayyim, that living water that we all need to live. That we can still access today, if only we know how to look. Some midrashim teach that Miriam’s Well was as old as the universe, created on the second day (Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer 3) or on the eve of the very first Shabbat. (Avot 5:6). It may have looked like a beehive. Whenever the Israelites camped, the well rested close by on an elevated spot opposite the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. (Tosefta Sukkah 3:11-13 and Numbers Rabbah 1:2) http://www.jtsa.edu/miriams-legacy-of-leadership

Now let’s go back to the song, because we begin to understand how the water in the well provided hope and healing. For the Israelites and for us today:

When the world was created, there was heaven and dry land
And all the waters gathered, upon hearing God’s command
There was a bit of water, that was left or so they tell,
That was the water that became the water from the well

CHORUS:

It was in Miriam’s honor that the first well came to be,
To celebrate her music, her dance and prophecy,
The people came to Miriam when their spirits rose and fell
She nourished all their visions with the water from the well

CHORUS:

“Spring up a well!” the twelve tribes sang and the rushing waters flowed
High as pillars, into rivers to the oceans they would go
Surrounded by the trees and fruits so rich and bountiful
The Israelites were nourished by the waters from the well

CHORUS:

When Miriam dried, the well dried up, and Moses’ shed his tears
And God said, “Moses, touch this rock and water will appear”
Well Moses raised his staff in anger and upon the rock it fell
And out came springs of water, it was water from the well
CHORUS:

Bridge:
For the memory of the women, for the memory of the well
For the ones who came before us, their stories we must tell
We are searching for the water, where we wander, where we dwell
For Miriam and all of us, who thirst to find the well

CHORUS:

This is Miriam’s Cup, Kos Miriyam that many people have taken since the 70s to adding to their seder tables. This is how new liturgy is born. Recognizing the real role that Miriyam and her leadership played in allowing the Israelites to flee Egypt. Her rescuing Moses, her teaching the women to celebrate at the shores of the sea and her finding water in the wilderness, offering all of us hope.

This Kos Miriyam one that I purchased in Riverdale, NY with my chevruta partner, Rabbi Linda Shriner Cahn.

Because this is a “new custom” there is no fixed blessing yet. Let’s try this:

Zot Kos Miryam, Kos Mayyim Hayyim. 
Zakheir l’tzi-at Mitzrayim.

This is the Cup of Miriam, the Cup of Living Waters.
Let us remember our going out from Egypt.

Barukh Atah Adonay, Eloheynu Melekh ha-Olam, she-ha-kol n’hi-ye bi-d’varo

Blessed are You Lordh our God, Ruler of the Universe, Creator of Time and Space, by Whose word everything is created.

And remember, this day and every day, drink your water. And fight so that all people have access to water. Water is life.

A sermon in honor of Wendy McFadden:

“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all .
Emily Dickinson

My job this morning is to tie lots of ideas together. I think I can do that. One of the best parts of my job is when a student asked a question that makes me learn something new. We thank Wendy McFadden for that this week and wish her well as she preaches on a similar topic at the National Church of the Brethren convention next week.

Our story this morning starts with spies. Both spies in the full Torah reading and spies in the Haftarah reading. Perhaps you prefer the term scout. They go to scout out the land and bring back intelligence. In the first story, every tribe sends a spy. The 10 think that while the land is a good land, following with milk and honey, it is a very difficult, impossible task ahead. After all, there are nephalim. Giants. So giant they would eat the Israelites, they appeared as small as…grasshoppers. They only see part of the story. Only Joshua and Caleb come back optimistic, thinking that the Israelites will be able to enter the land. Tie Number One. They have hope.

After enduring more grumbling, more kvetching from the Israelites, G-d’s anger reappears. The Israelites want to go back to Egypt. Why not? The battle ahead will be dangerous and without a clear outcome. Moses intercedes (again) on the people’s behalf and reminds G-d of G-d’s essential nature. G-d, You are G-d, merciful and compassionate, slow to anger, full of lovingkindness… Adonai, Adonai, El Rachum V’chanun. Using those very words he learned from G-d on top of Mount Sinai, it works. Again. And G-d utters the words we know from Yom Kippur, from Kol Nidre itself. Vayomer Adonai, selacti kidvarecha. And G-d said, I have pardoned you according to your word. Tie Number Two. Moses and G-d have hope.

The Israelites set out again…now buoyed with hope.

Then G-d says:
There shall be one law for you and for the resident stranger; it shall be a law for all time throughout the ages. You and the stranger shall be alike before the LORD; Tie Number Three. This brings the sojourners hope.

We know this word hope in Hebrew. It is tikvah. Like the Jewish National Anthem, HaTikvah, the Hope. But it shows up in an interesting place. In our Haftarah, which Simon will read shortly, Rahab offers the scouts hope. A lifeline. Literally, a red thread as a sign. That thread is called tikvah.

Now I could not find much Jewish commentary on this. But Christian commentators have much to say about this red thread tikvah. And one Rosh Hashanah sermon delivered at Chicago Sinai Congregation, Simon’s home congregation. Seems appropriate as we tie the generations together.

“As the Israelites prepare to enter the Land, Joshua, the new leader of the Jewish people sends in two spies to scope it out. Upon entering, the scouts arrive a the house o Rahab and stay there…As you might imagine, when word gets out about these Israelites, the Canaanites are less than thrilled and plan to attach. IN that very moment, Rahab, the Harlot becomes Rahab the Heroine. (We could do a whole text study on Rahab and her leadership style. That’s for another time)…In order to protect Rahab, the scouts offer her a scarlet tikvah, thread to hang from her window. This scarlet thread becomes Rahab’s only guarantee that her household will be spared by the Israelites. It was literally her tikvah, her only hope.” https://www.chicagosinai.org/worship/sermons/real-kind-of-hope

Tie Number Four. Rahab has hope.

Rabbi Amanda Greene goes on to point out that Jewish hope is different that hope in general. “Our hope, Jewish hope, is much more difficult than Hallmark hope. It is not a hope that guarentees happy endings. It is not a hope that makes everything better. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel taught, “Hope is a conviction, rooted in trust..an ability to soar above the darkness that overshadows the Divine.”

The next tie that binds in our portion, is for the gift of challah.

“When the Israelites enter the land, a good land, a land flowing with milk and honey, they are directed, commanded to offer a gift. The gift of bread. Not just any bread. Challah.

“Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: When you enter the land to which I am taking you and you eat of the bread of the land, you shall set some aside as a gift to the Lord: as the first yield of your baking. You shall set aside a loaf as a gift; you shall set it aside as a gift like the gift fro the threshing floor. You shall make a gift to the Lord from the first yield of your baking throughout the ages.”

This is the origin of separating challah, of “taking challah”. The book Spiritual Kneading has much to say about this tradition, which is still observed today. I think it is an offering of hope.

We still do this. It binds us together through the generations. And if you want to join us for Rosh Hodesh on Tuesday night we will separate challah, at one of the darkest times, the new moon, bringing us hope.

It is about living with gratitude and recognizing that our bread come forth from the land, with the help of G-d. It reminds me of the old Girl Scout Grace, Back of the Bread. Back of the Bread is the flour and back of the flour is the mill and back of the mill is the wind and the rain and the Father’s will.

Bread does not come out of the earth as bread. It takes seeds, and a balance between rain and sun, and milling the grain, and mixing the flour, letting it rise, baking it but not too long. Farmers must have hope.  Tie Number Five. Farmers, and by extension us, must remember to live in hope. Challah represents that hope.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to deliver produce from our garden, 40 pounds of omer, our winter rye to Gene Lindow for animals in McHenry. Having grown a good crop, we shouldn’t waste the energy that went into that. And two heads of lettuce and the first radishes to the Soup Kettle across the street. We will have the opportunity to taste one of those radishes. We have set that aside as a gift and will enjoy another shehechianu moment at our Kiddush shortly.

But you might be wondering, why did I pass out a purple thread. Rahab’s thread was scarlet. Because there is another tie that binds. Our portion ends this morning with a paragraph we know so well. It is the third paragraph of the V’ahavta. It tells us to tie a blue thread, a fringe onto our garments. To remember the mitzvoth and to remember that G-d took us out of Egypt. We do that with our tzitzit and our tallitot, prayer shawls. That is the Sixth Tie that Binds.

I stand before you today, in one of my favorite tallitot. It was crafted by Rabbi Terry Greenstein and I wear it about four times a year. It was Peretz’s favorite. I wear it for Shabbat Noach, and for Joseph and his amazing Technicolor dreamcoat. I wear it for the Shabbat when people believe the rainbow appeared in the sky, usually May. And I wear it for Pride Shabbat.

There are many interpretations of why red and blue threads. Perhaps they are just two of the “royal” and expensive dyes mandated in building the Holy Temple. Perhaps, as one commentator suggested, red is for women reminding us of blood and blue is for men. But I am not sure that even then gender colors were so fixed. Remember that it was the men who put blood on the doorposts so that the Angel of Death would Passover and protect all the first born (men).

However, red and blue together make purple. So this purple thread I have given you today is to remind you to live with hope. That is the Seventh Tie.

Driving along Route 20 on the way back from Marengo I was reminded of this quote from the Color Purple:

Describing what God does to please people, Shug says,”I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.” After Celie asks what God does in response to this obliviousness, Shug replies that God creates something else people will see, because God just wants to be loved. Out of this pivotal conversation, Celie develops a deep spiritual connection.

That’s what G-d wants. G-d wants us to remember. To take notice. To live in gratitude and hope.Take your purple thread and wear it all week to remember. To take notice. To live in gratitude and hope.

Like Edmund Flegg wrote to his grandson tying those generations together: “Je suis juif parce qu’en tous temps où crie une désespérance, le juif espère. I am a Jew because in every age when the cry of despair is heard the Jew hopes.”

For an entire year, my synagoue, Congregation Kneseth Israel has studied covenant. In Hebrew the word is brit. As a concluding activity, we met for a Tikkun Leil Shavuot to figure out what we have learned and how we relate it to living in 5779/2019 and in community. The community of a congregation. A community that takes care of one another. Each month as part of my bulletin announcement I would look at one of the obligations outlines in Elu Devarim, a piece of the Ralmud that is included in the morning service. Then between Passover and Shavuot as part of our Omer Study Project we would look at a section together.

We began Shavuot night with a puzzle, broken into pieces, that had “We shall do and we shall hear.” Scribbled on puzzle pieces were 48 things we “should” do according to the Torah that are Jewish values. 48. Almost the 50 of counting the omer, the 50 days between Passover and Shavuot.

Then we did chevruta study, study in pairs of friendsThere are 346 mentions of covenant in Scripture, a good online concordance will tell you. 270 in the Hebrew Scriptures alone. Many are about the “ark of the covenant.” Those verses we didn’t study. What we did do was study verses from each of the Books of the Torah, some from the Writings and Prophets and some from the Talmud. Those verses follow.

There are several types of covenants in the Bible.

• There is the covenant of creation, of the Garden of Eden where G-d commands Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply and that while they have dominion over the earth, they need to be caretakers of the earth and to be G-d’s partner in creation.
• There is the covenant with Noah where G-d promises never to destroy the world again by flood. Out of that, the rabbis deduce 7 Noahide laws. These are covenantal responsibilities for being part of the covenant. G-d’s sign of the covenant is the rainbow.
• Then there was the covenant with Abraham, where G-d promises the land of Israel to Abraham and his descendants and to make his descendants as numerous as the sands of the sea and the stars in the sky. The sign of the covenant is the circumcision, the brit milah.
• The covenant with Moses is given while standing at Mount Sinai. It is reflective of the Abrahamic covenant and described in covenantal language of Exodus 19. It includes the 10 Commandments (or the 613 Commandments). Earlier in the Exodus saga Tziporah circumcises her son (when Moses doesn’t). The sign of the covenant is Torah itself and in some communities is seen as a ketubah marrying G-d and the people of Israel on Shavuot.
• Shabbat is a sign of the covenant that is promised in Exodus 31. We sing this song joyously on Shabbat, V’shamru. We, the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath…it is a sign for all generations.

And that is what a covenant is. A promise between peoples. If you do x, I will do y. In Hebrew the language is to “cut a covenant”. There a number of combination words about covenant:

• Ot habrit, Sign of the Covenant (rainbow, circumcision, Shabbat)
• Brit Milah, Circumcision of Covenant
• Bnei brit, Children of the Covenant
  Luchot habrit, Tablets of the Covenant
• Aron Habrit, Ark of the Covenant
• Sefer habrit, Book of the Covenant
• Dam Habrit, Blood of the covenant
• Brit shalom, Covenant of Peace
• Brit hadashah, New Covenant
• Brit Olam (a political party in Israel and a designation of the Religious Action Center of the Reform Movement)

Brit Shalom fascinates me because the new JPS translation translates it as “covenant of friendship” or “pact of friendship”. I asked my Bar Mitzvah students why they thought that choice was made. They said that they thought it was because without peace you really can’t have friendship. And without friends there is no peace.

Marriage Covenant

“Blessed are You, LORD, our God, sovereign of the universe, who created joy and gladness, groom and bride, mirth, song, delight and rejoicing, love and harmony and peace and companionship. Quickly, LORD our God, there should be heard in the cities of Judah and in the courtyards of Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of groom and the voice of bride, the jubilant voices of grooms from the bridal canopy, and of young people from the feast of their singing. Blessed are You, LORD, who makes joyful the groom and the bride.”

Shavuot Covenant:

Shavuot is seen as the fulfillment of the covenant. A marriage between G-d and the people of Israel.

God proposes: “Now then, if you will obey Me faithfully and keep My covenant, you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples” (Exodus 19:5).

The people accept: “All the people answered as one, saying, ‘All that the Eternal has spoken we will do!’” (Exodus 19:8).

The people cleanse themselves, as at a mikvah (Jewish ritual bath, traditionally used by a bride before the wedding): “Moses came down from the mountain to the people and warned the people to stay pure, and they washed their clothes” (Exodus 19:14).

Then God and the people join under a chuppah (marriage canopy): “Moses led the people out of the camp toward God, and they took their places beneath [at the foot of] the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke, for the Eternal had come down upon it in fire” (Exodus 19:17-18).

There is a ketubah (marriage contract): “The Eternal said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and wait there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the teachings and commandments which I have inscribed to instruct them” (Exodus 24:12).

Here is a sample Shavuot Ketubah, written by Israel Najara (c.1550-c.1625)::

Friday, the sixth of Sivan, the day appointed by the Lord for the revelation of the Torah to His beloved people… The Invisible One came forth from Sinai, shone from Seir and appeared from Mount Paran unto all the kings of the earth, in the year 2448 since the creation of the world, the era by which we are accustomed to reckon in this land whose foundations were upheld by God, as it is written, ‘For He hath founded it upon the seas and established it upon the floods’ (Psalms 24.2).

The Bridegroom [God], Ruler of rulers, Prince of princes, Distinguished among the select, Whose mouth is pleasing and all of Whom is delightful, said unto the pious, lovely and virtuous maiden [the people of Israel] who won His favor above all women, who is beautiful as the moon, radiant as the sun, awesome as bannered hosts: Many days wilt thou be Mine and I will be thy Redeemer.

Behold, I have sent thee golden precepts through the lawgiver Jekuthiel [Moses]. Be thou My mate according to the law of Moses and Israel, and I will honor, support, and maintain thee and be thy shelter and refuge in everlasting mercy. And I will set aside for thee, in lieu of thy virginal faithfulness, the life-giving Torah by which thou and thy children will live in health and tranquility.

This bride [Israel] consented and became His spouse. Thus an eternal covenant, binding them forever, was established between them. The Bridegroom then agreed to add to the above all future expositions of Scripture, including Sifra, Sifre, Aggadah, and Tosefta. He established the primacy of the 248 positive commandments that are incumbent upon all… and added to them the 365 negative commandments. The dowry that this bride brought from the house of her father consists of an understanding heart that understands, ears that hearken, and eyes that see.

Thus the sum total of the contract and the dowry, with the addition of the positive and negative commandments, amounts to the following: ‘Revere God and observe His commandments; this applies to all mankind’ (Ecclesiastes 12:13). The Bridegroom, desiring to confer privileges upon His people Israel and to transmit these valuable assets to them, took upon Himself the responsibility of this marriage contract, to be paid from the best portions of His property…

All these conditions are valid and established forever and ever. The Bridegroom has given His oath to carry them out in favor of His people and to enable those that love Him to inherit substance. Thus the Lord has given His oath. The Bridegroom has followed the legal formality of symbolic delivery of this document, which is bigger than the earth and broader than the seas. Everything, then, is firm, clear, and established…

I invoke heaven and earth as reliable witnesses.

May the Bridegroom rejoice with the bride whom He has taken as His lot and may the bride rejoice with the Husband of her youth while uttering words of praise.

“I will betroth thee unto Me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness, and in justice, and in lovingkindness, and in compassion. And I will betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know the Lord” (Hosea 2:21-22) and “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel” (Jeremiah 31:31)

And here Is the culminating exercise, how we took the year’s study of covenant and created our own Shavuot ketubah for Congregation Kneseth Israel, mirroring our vision statement with Elu Devarim :

“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 6^th of Sivan 5779 as we reckon time in Elgin, IL, we, the members of Congregation Kneseth Israel 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 the members of Congregation Kneseth Israel

Here are the chevruta texts we used:

Genesis
“And I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.” (Gen. 9:15)

“When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” (Gen 9:16)

On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto your seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: (Gen. 15:18)

“As for me, behold, my covenant is with you, and you shalt be a father of many nations.” (Genesis 17:4)

“And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your seed after you in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto you, and to your seed after you.” (Genesis 17:7)

And God said, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son indeed; and you shall call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto you at this set time in the next year. (Gen. 17:19, 21)

“And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them to Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant.” Genesis 21:27

“So now come, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between you and me.” (Genesis 31:44) (between Jacob and Laban) 

Exodus

“So God heard their groaning; and God remembered God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” (Exodus 2:24)

“I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they sojourned. (Exodus 6:4)

“Furthermore I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant.” (Exodus 6:5)

“Now therefore, if you will listen to My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then you shall be My treasure to me from among all people: for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. (Exodus 19:5-6).

“The children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout the ages as a covenant for all time: it shall be a sign for all time between Me and the people of Israel” (Exodus 31:16)

Then God said, “Behold, I am going to make a covenant Before all your people I will perform miracles which have not been produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people among whom you live will see the working of the LORD, for it is a fearful thing that I am going to perform with you. (Exodus 34:10)

Leviticus

“You should be holy because I the Lord your G-d am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2)

“Fear (or revere) your mother and your father, because I the Lord your G-d am holy.” (Leviticus 19:3).

“And you shall take fine flour and bake twelve loaves…and you shall set them in two rows, six in a row, upon the pure table before the LORD…every Sabbath day he shall set it in order before the Lord continually, it is from the children of Israel, an everlasting covenant.” (Leviticus 23:6-8)

“then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember also My covenant with Isaac, and My covenant with Abraham as well, and I will remember the land.” (Leviticus 26:22)

“Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.” (Leviticus 26:42)

“But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the LORD. (Leviticus 26:45)

Numbers

“Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace and it shall be unto him, and to his seed after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood.” (Numbers 25:12-13)

Deuteronomy

And G-d declared to you G-d’s covenant, which the Lord commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and G-d wrote them upon two tables of stone. (Deut. 4:13)

For the LORD your God is a merciful God; God will not forsake you, nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your ancestors which God swore unto them. (Deut 4:31)

“The LORD did not make this covenant with our ancestors, but with us, with all those of us alive here today. (Deut. 5:3)

“So keep the words of this covenant to do them, that you may prosper in all that you do. (Deut. 29:9)

I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day: I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse: Choose life if you and your offspring would live” (Deuteronomy 30:19)

The Lord goes before you and will be with you; God will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. (Deut. 31:8)

Covenant in Other Books of the TaNaCH

“There is no God like You, in heaven above, or on earth beneath; who keeps the covenant and lovingkindness with Your servants, that walk with Your with all their heart.” (I Kings 8:23)

“The covenant that I have made with you, you shall not forget, nor shall you fear other gods. (II Kings 17:38)

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:8)

I the LORD have called you to righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep you, and give you a covenant of the people, for a light of the nations.” (Isaiah 42:6).

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” (Isaiah 43:2)

Thus says the LORD, “In a favorable time I have answered You, And in a day of salvation I have helped You; And I will keep You and give You for a covenant of the people, To restore the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages; (Isaiah 49:8)

“For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,” Says the LORD who has compassion on you.” (Isaiah 54:10)

“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from now and forever.” (Isaiah 59:21)

“But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel after I plant them back in the land,” says the Lord. “I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts and minds. I will be their God and they will be my people.” (Jeremiah 31:33)

“I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. (Jeremiah 32:40)

“Thus says the LORD, ‘If My covenant for day and night stand not, and the fixed patterns of heaven and earth I have not established. (Jeremiah 33:35)

And on that day will I make a covenant with them with the beasts of the field, and with the birds of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground; and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the land, and will make them to lie down safely. (Hosea 2: 20)

“To do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your G-d.” (Micah 6:8)

“I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. (Ezekiel 37:26)

“My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so he revered Me and stood in awe of My name. (Malachi 2:5)

“Truly is not my house so with God? For He has made an everlasting covenant with me, Ordered in all things, and secured; For all my salvation and all my desire, Will He not indeed make it grow? (2 Samuel 23:5)

“I have made a covenant with My chosen; I have sworn to David My servant, I will establish your seed forever And build up your throne to all generations.” Selah. (Psalm 89:3-4)

My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. (Psalm 89:28)

“The Lord has remembered God’s covenant forever, The word which God commanded to a thousand generations,” (Psalm 105:8)

Covenant in the Talmud:

These are the obligations without measure, whose reward too, is without measure: whose fruits we eat in this world, but whose full reward awaits us in the World to Come:

To honor father and mother;
To perform acts of love and kindness;
To attend the house of study daily;
To welcome the stranger;
To visit the sick;
To rejoice with bride and groom;
To console the bereaved;
To pray with sincerity;
To make peace when there is strife;
And the study of Torah equal to them all, because it leads to them all.
Mishnah Peah 1:1

The Talmud tells this story about a Sadducee who once saw Rava so engrossed in learning that he did not attend a wound in his own hand! The Sadducee exclaimed, “You rash people! You put your mouths ahead of your ears [by saying “we will do and we will listen”]! and you still persist in your recklessness. First, you should have heard out [the covenant details]. If it is within your powers, then accept it. If not, you should have rejected it!” Rava answered, “We walked with our whole being. [Rashi’s classic Talmudic commentary: “We walked…as those who serve (God) in love. We relied on God not to burden us with something we could not carry. “] Of us it is written, ‘The wholeness (meaning wholeheartedness) of the righteous shall guide them.’” [Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat, 88a.]