My dear friends, this past week a giant light in our lives has gone out. The distinctive voice of hope, wisdom and teachings of Rabbi Lord Sacks is sadly no more. An individual who impacted and inspired so many of us is now in the past. But it isn’t because the impact which Rabbi Lord Sacks had on us all, will continue to live on in us, and shine bright for generations to come!
Reflecting upon the virtues of her late father at the funeral service this past week, his daughter, Gila, had this to say: “What my Dad had given me is that single belief that nothing was inevitable, that no problems were too big for people to try to solve, that things could always be changed and people could always change them.” That belief shaped the person that Rabbi Sacks was she said. Rabbi Sacks passed away on Shabbat Parshat Vayera, the place in the Torah which presents the idea that the world is not just the way things are, but something to challenge, and be challenged by. Abraham was chosen to be the father to many nations for his will to challenge. In parshat Vayera we are introduced to the great moment: a human being challenges God Himself for the very first time. God is about to pass judgement on Sodom. Abraham, fearing that this will mean that the city will be destroyed, says: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Will not the Judge of all the earth do justice?
(Gen. 18:23-25).
As we re-live and experience the challenges of a lock down for the second time, closing our doors for Shabbat services yet again, and being forced to separate ourselves from loved ones, friends and community, we find ourselves challenged. Abraham’s role modelled for us the idea that Jews do not accept the world that is, but rather they challenge it in the name of the world that ought to be. In loving memory HaRav Ya’akov Zvi ben David Arieh z”l Rabbi Lord Sacks, who taught us that no problems were too big for people to try to solve, let us respond to the challenges facing us during this time, and join together via Zoom for Kabbalat Shabbat, honouring his memory, and using the power of digital technology to enable us to stay connected with each other.
Daniel Rosenthal