Torah Portion:  Bo;  Exodus 10:1-13:16

One of the most powerful teachings I learned from my rabbi, Ken Weiss, is that it’s not God who’s making horrible things happen to you; it’s God in the hands of the people who are trying to help.  This teaching has come to my mind many times these past few weeks as we continue to witness the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti.  Yet, in the face of such devastation, what can we do to make God’s presence known in the world?  What can we possibly do to help?  The answer is, we can do so much. 

Just this past week, our religious school raised over $400 in donations, all of which will be sent to the URJ’s relief work (100% of which goes directly to Haiti).  We are going to continue our efforts to raise money through our religious school tzedakah for the next two weeks, so please continue to bring God’s presence in the world by trying to help and donating what you can.

Another incredible example of these amazing acts of goodness—and one that brings us, as Jews, a special feeling of pride—is the Israeli response to the earthquake.  According to ARZA’s Rabbi Ira Youdovin, “only 48 hours after the devastating earthquake, Israel had assembled and sent airborne a flight loaded with military and civilian medical personnel, including 120 doctors and nurses, rescue teams, search dogs, and equipment and supplies for establishing  a sophisticated field hospital capable of treating 500 patients daily.  The hospital went operational in Port-au-Prince Friday afternoon, serving as the only facility in Haiti offering advanced treatment to the seriously wounded.”  You can see NBC’s report of Israel’s work by clicking on the link http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/34944405#34944405.

Just as moving is the work of ZAKA, an organization made of teams of Israeli ultraorthodox Jews that was “founded during the first wave of suicide bombings to collect the scattered body parts of victims in order to bury them in conformity with halacha.  But ZAKA discovered early on that its rapid arrival on the scene also positioned its workers to rescue the living, which they do with incredible speed and ultimate skill.  Arriving [in Haiti] Friday afternoon, the ZAKA team was immediately dispatched to a collapsed school building, where it pulled eight students from the rubble. They worked straight through the Sabbath---as mandated by halacha to save human lives---breaking briefly to welcome Shabbat with the traditional wine and bread, an experience they reportedly shared with rescue workers from Egypt and Qatar.”

If this is not God’s presence being made manifest in the world, I don’t know what is.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Annie