It's a new year, and that's a chance to look both forward and back. In America and Israel, this is an election year, and that can give us both hope and anxiety. I hope that whatever we're feeling, we in Nafshenu are able to be sources of support, wisdom and compassion for one another.
I and the Nafshenu Core Team hope to announce soon a calendar of services, holiday celebrations, social action and
other events for the winter and spring. That includes the upcoming holidays of Purim and Passover.
Speaking of Passover, we've now arrived at Exodus, the second book of the Torah, which covers the enslavement and liberation of the Israelites. This week's parashah is Shemot (Exodus 1:1-6:1). In it, we read of a change of political leadership that has serious, and bad, consequences for the Israelites living in Egypt.
The new pharaoh fears the many descendants of Jacob and enslaves them
"And a new Pharaoh took power who didn't know about Joseph," the story begins.
I invite anyone who wants to take a look at the story and its implications for American Jews today to join me on Zoom this Saturday (noon-1pm) for the weekly Bible study. [I am on the road today, our normal meeting time.]
Many Jews today see the rise in anti-Jewish racism are asking themselves if we are seeing the end of a golden age for Jewish Americans. Who can be sure? I don't see it myself. But I do believe that we can benefit by making a point-by-point comparison of our situation and the story of what happened to our people in Egypt, in medieval Spain and in 1930s-'40s Europe.
