A Moment of Torah with Rabbi Neil Sandler

A strange thing occurs early in this week's Torah Portion, Va'era. As the narrative of our people's travails continues, God reveals God's self to Moses differently from the divine revelations to earlier Patriarchs and Matriarchs. The Holy One has heard the moaning of the Israelites and calls upon Moses and Aaron to act by delivering God's powerful words we will eventually read, "Let My People Go!"

And then the narrative stops. It will soon return to the story of Moses, Aaron, the Israelites, and Pharaoh. But, first, the Torah has something to say about the children of the Israelites' tribal leaders.

Lots of familiar words and actions amidst the Israelites' deplorable conditions in Egypt… and then a list of names, many of whom we will never see again in the Torah. Why does the Torah pick this moment to share these names? I don't know. But it occurs to me that in this moment the "Children of Israel" become something more than an anonymous group of people. Each one of these individuals has a name. Each one moans under his own burden and, paradoxically, brings benefit to Egypt through his labor. Together, these largely nameless "Children of Israel" constituted a community. And each one of them had a name, largely unknown to us or forgotten.

I encourage you to read this brief, but beautiful, column that Rabbi David Wolpe wrote about other people who, to us, may be nameless or forgotten. Together, they represent the firm structure that allows any organization, congregations included, to exist and thrive.

COVID-19 has had a significant impact on how our congregation functions, but much remains the same. Each day, a mail carrier delivers our mail. Repair people come to the synagogue to fix whatever is not working properly. Delivery people bring supplies. These people have names, but we don't know them. While each one is carrying out a job for which s/he is paid, do we ever think about the contribution that person makes to the functioning of our congregation? Numerous congregants quietly volunteer their time to make the synagogue "work" and thrive. We might recognize their names if they appeared on a list, but who are these people? Do we offer them our thanks? Some of us know the names of the members of our congregation's facility staff. They devotedly assure the well – being of our beautiful synagogue building. How often do we express our appreciation to them for their dedicated efforts?

We will never know the names of all those people who contribute to the well-being of our congregation. But the Torah's interruption of the Israelites' narrative in Egypt mentions names of people, many of whom are otherwise unknown to us among those who together comprise the "Children of Israel." Let us take a cue to remember and thank those people of our larger synagogue community, the ones whose names we know and the ones we do not know, who contribute in ways we may seldom consider.

Thank you for the part, both big and small, you play in the life of our congregation. Without you, we would not be the same. May you continue to help us thrive. Susan joins me in wishing you and your loved one's good health and well-being throughout 2022. Shabbat Shalom.