Voices of WRJ: Parashat Va-et’chanan

by Rozan Anderson "… take utmost care and watch yourselves scrupulously, so that you do not forget the things that you saw with your own eyes and so that they do not fade from your mind as long as you live. And make them known to your children and to your children's children." (Deuteronomy 4:9). In this week’s parashah, Va-et’chanan (Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11), Moses recounts for the people their history since leaving Egypt. This is his final lesson, for his time with them is ending. He wants to make sure that they’ve learned well, so that when they enter the Promised Land, they and their children will remain holy and flourish throughout the generations. Included in this text are the Sh’ma, the Ten Commandments, and the V’ahavta, the very core for living a good life. In this Centennial year for WRJ, we’ve been looking back at our 100 year history and celebrating our accomplishments. Not just so that we can kvell (and there’s certainly plenty of that!), but also so that we may learn from where we’ve been and how we’ve gotten to where we are today. From here, we lay our path forward into the future. This past March, I was incredibly fortunate to participate in the WRJ Centennial Trip to Israel and Berlin. This was my first time in Israel, and I went full of curiosity and with many questions about current events, politics, and social and governmental structures in our Jewish homeland. I knew this would be no ordinary sightseeing trip (is there even really such a thing?) and that there would be many sights unseen, as we focused on visiting people and organizations with whom WRJ has built strong relationships. What I experienced filled me with awe and pride. It wasn’t all pretty, by any means. Along with the joys of meeting students and faculty at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem and getting to know many of our Israeli WRJ sisters, we also met with people affiliated with our Reform/Progressive movement who are working hard to make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate–in Israel and worldwide. How utterly powerful to be greeted at the door of a community room in an unrecognized Bedouin village by the smiling faces of little children living in difficult circumstances that most of us can barely fathom. The village leader told us that the 2,000 people there are served by a 1-inch water pipe. We learned from the staff of NISPED (the Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development) about their organization’s efforts in conflict resolution, economic empowerment, and education for peace in the Middle East. We met Bedouin and Jewish youth who are engaged together, getting to know and trust one another, which serves as a foundation on which to build a more just society. In Tel Aviv, we visited the Hotline for Migrant Workers, another nonprofit organization, this one dedicated to promoting the rights of undocumented migrant workers and refugees, as well as eliminating trafficking in persons in Israel. We visited Kibbutz Lotan, deep in the Negev, founded 30 years ago by the Reform movement. It’s a model community working towards affordable, sustainable housing and food. They’re doing truly groundbreaking work and leading the way for the rest of the world. Great initiatives, great science: building houses from recycled tires, trash, and mud; solar energy; recycling of materials; and growing food from seemingly nothing. It was an amazing sight to come across all the greenery after miles of driving though piles of rocks in the desert. The Promised Land! And it was a thrill for us all to see a new building with a plaque on the front door thanking WRJ for our support! At all these places, plus many others on our itinerary, in Germany as well as in Israel, we received appreciation for the financial and other support that we, WRJ, are providing to help do the vital work of improving our world. And so, I saw with my very own eyes things that I will not soon forget. I am incredibly proud to be a Woman of Reform Judaism and of all that we’ve accomplished in our history. We are living in accordance with the words of Va-et’chanan. And our work is not done. May we continue to teach our children and our children’s children. May we go into our next century stronger together! Rozan Anderson is a WRJ Board Member and Immediate Past Sisterhood President at Temple Beth El in Madison, WI.