Voices of WRJ: Eikev

In Parashat Eikev, Moses delivers three speeches to the people he has lead from slavery to freedom through the desert and who are now about to enter the Promised Land, the eretz zavat chalav u' d'vash (land of milk and honey) (Deuteronomy 11:9). Although their entry to this land will be fraught with battles and some losses, the eventual rewards, promised by God, will amply justify these initial terrifying encounters with the nations who worship idols and other gods. However, as Moses emphatically declares to the people, God’s rewards will only be fulfilled if they remember not only God’s gifts to them, but also their past misdemeanours. It is imperative that the people recall both God’s promises and their rebellious behaviours in order to maintain and fulfil God’s covenant. I like the verb, “zachor”—to remember. For me, to remember is neither a passive activity nor an action relegated to the past. To remember the past is very much a part of my present—knowing and remembering my past informs my identity. As Nahum Sarna observes in his Torah commentary: "Hebrew ‘zikkaron’ involves action. The Hebrew stem z-k-r connotes much more than the recall of things past. It means, rather, to be mindful, to pay heed, signifying a sharp focusing of attention upon someone or something. It embraces concern and involvement and is active not passive, so that it eventuates in action" (JPS Torah Commentary: Exodus, Nahum M. Sarna, p. 13). By constantly reminding the people that God brought them forth from slavery and that they, too, were once strangers in Eretz Mitzrayim (the land of Egypt), Moses entreats them to love and serve their God: “For your God ‘Elohechem’ is God supreme and Lord supreme, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who shows no favor and takes no bribe, but upholds the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and befriends the stranger, providing food and clothing" (Deuteronomy 10:17-18).  Those of us who have been involved in WRJ for many years certainly know the Hebrew words for orphan, ‘yatom,' and widow, ‘almanah,’ which appear in Isaiah 1:17, which we we selected in 2011 and Beth Schafer so exquisitely set to music to become the WRJ Centennial Anthem: ‘Limdu Heiteiv.’ How do we remember the widow? Lillian Klein Abensohn, in her commentary on this parashah in The Torah: A Women’s Commentary, suggests that we must not recall the widow out of sympathy, but that she “must be recognized as an independent agent in order to support herself; to do otherwise would be unjust" (p. 1108). How do we remember the stranger? One of our Gold Or Ami "Light of My People" Award winners to be recognized at the WRJ Assembly 2015 in Orlando, FL this November is Kehilat Birkat Sholom in Gezer, Israel. This is a synthesis of their project:

We at Birkat Shalom believe that we are a microcosm of Israeli society. A healthy, open, tolerant society benefits us all. Gathering people together is a blessing. Even when we are not in crisis mode, there is a need for dialogue and understanding between Jews and Arabs in Israel.

They are strangers to each other but are working to welcome and learn to live with one another. How do we remember the orphan? Another Or Ami Award winner from 2011 highlights the ongoing good works of the WRJ Bet David women's group in Johannesburg, South Africa, which provides programs for the children from the Alexandra Orphanage, amongst others. Members also make weekly rounds of the Alexandra Township, including the school and the various feeding programs they support, as well as check in on a woman they call “the Grandmother” who takes in abandoned and orphaned children who are, quite literally, left on her doorstep. Try to imagine a dozen or more children, aged nine months to 14 years, either sleeping or resting on a mat on the floor along the perimeter of three sides of a small room. "The Grandmother” does not live there—she lives a few doors away. She locks the door of the room with the children at night so that they won’t be kidnapped. The Bet David women's group members visit her regularly and provide whatever supplies she needs. The women's group also sponsors a teacher there one day a week. These women help provide messages of hope to all the children they support. WRJ women remember the widow, the orphan, and the stranger as we go about our daily lives. As we sing our song in unison, remember, the verbs are active; remember, our covenant with God is everlasting: “Limdu heitev dirshu mishpat ashru chamotz Shivtu yatom rivu almanah. Amen.”