Dear Lab/Shul,
How does one respond to the ethical and moral failure of leadership worldwide? We have some unlikely heroines from our past to guide us through now and into next.
News from Jerusalem and DC these past days leaves me – many of us – almost numb – staggering to simply function as usual and feel safe when Israel and the USA, the two countries I call home and vote in, are in this critical leadership crisis. This past Wednesday night, as breaking news about Netanyahu’s indictment popped up on screens alongside the latest from Trump’s impeachment proceedings, I was on a flight from Tel Aviv to New York and got into a conversation with a Hasidic man, on the long line to the toilets – middle of the night, in the middle of the Atlantic. Born in Brooklyn, now living in Jerusalem, who votes for both Trump and Bibi, and was as indignant and disillusioned as me, maybe even more so. We were on the same page of frustration but also, surprised, shared what we both thought is the best, and most authentically Jewish way to respond: step up our own vision of the good, increase our personal engagement and involvement in whatever it is that helps our local and global realities rise up to the best in us.
In the face of excessive greed and corruption – err on the side of excessive generosity of spirit and investment in a more just and loving world.
I even got to show off some Torah, impressing my Hasidic new friend Yossi, with a nod to the Torah portion that will be read this Shabbat in synagogues worldwide, reminding us what kindness looks like. That’s where our ancient heroine comes in.
Genesis chapter 24 describes the moment in which Rebeccah, the next Hebraic Matriarch in line, steps up to become a bride, a mother, and a major leader in our history. Without a prompt, she offers to quench the thirst of a strange man she meets at her local well, offering water not just to him but also to his ten dusty camels. It takes a few hours to do that (ten camels!) and according to the Biblical story – Rebeccah, likely a teenager, completes this task swiftly, kindly, as the stranger, sent to find a match for the heir of the Abrahamic dynasty, is astonished. This is what excess looks like – when erring on the side of care for others in need.
Rebeccah does what we are asked to do today – quench thirst of others ahead of her own gain, step up, be a leader of love. Let’s follow her lead.
Bibi should learn a lesson from Rebeccah, and we all can, I said to Yossi.
-Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie
