Torah Portion:  Va-y’chi;  Genesis 47:28–50:26

Every time we finish reading a book of Torah, we arise and recite as a congregation the words, “Hazak, hazak, v’nithazek,” “be strong, be strong, and we shall be strengthened.”  This week, we read the last parsha (portion) in the book of Genesis, Vayechi.  The portion contains the story of both Jacob and Joseph’s death, and Jacob’s final blessing and words to his children.  Jacob is not always positive—in his last moments he rebukes Shimon and Levi for their “lawlessness” and “wrath.”  Yet overall, as he blesses his children he presents an image of a relationship with God that is filled with meaning, strength, and love.  He says that God has been his “shepherd from birth to this day,” and that God “redeemed him from all harm.”  He assures his family that God will be with them, just as God was with him and his fathers, Abraham and Isaac.  The message Jacob leaves us with is one of love: family love and divine love.  This is a message that I think we can all take to heart.

We need to remember this message in the week to come, when members of the fundamentalist Westboro Baptist Church (NOT affiliated with an established Baptist movement) visit Houston. As opposed to preaching a message of love, members of the WBC teach that “‘God’s hatred is one of His holy attributes’ and that their picketing is a form of preaching to a ‘doomed’ country unable to hear their message in any other way.”  WBC is an equal-opportunity hater—they don’t like Jews, gay men or women, Catholics, most other Christians, African-Americans, and the list goes on.  This past week, the ADL advised the Jewish community that WBC will be here to protest January 3-4 at the Jewish Federation, the Holocaust Museum, Beth Yeshurun, Lakewood Church, various Catholic churches, the Jewish Herald-Voice, and Emery-Weiner School.  Please be aware of their presence; however, the ADL has advised that we do not organize counter-protests or engage with the WBC protests in any way.  If any of us happen to witness these protests, please do not let their vitriol affect you—this is precisely their goal.  Instead, remember Jacob’s message: our connections to God and to each other provide an endless source of love, healing, and hope.

I hope that in the year to come, you find continual nourishment for your sources of love, healing, and hope.

For more information about WBC, please go to www.adl.org, and search for links on Westboro Baptist Church.  The ADL has incredible information as well as ways to respond.

For more insight on this week's Torah portion, visit urj.org/torah.

Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Annie