Persistence and Chesed

Lech Lecha, 5784

According to the Mishna, Avraham faced ten great trials in his lifetime. According to Maimonides’ list of those trials, six of them happen in this parsha. Avraham is told to get up and move by God (1), once he does so he finds that there is famine in the land (2), so he moves to Egypt to avoid the famine. However, in Egypt his wife Sarai is taken captive (3), and only eventually returned to him. His nephew Lot separates from him, and then gets captured in the war of the five kings against the four kings, causing Avraham to fight in that war (4). Through all of this, despite being old, he and Sarah are barren, so Sarah tells him to take her maidservant Hagar to be his maid and have children with her (5). Finally, after having Ishmael, at an advanced age of 99 years God commands Avraham to circumcise himself (6). In next week’s parsha his troubles will continue, as Sarah is kidnapped again (7), he is forced to send Hagar away by Sarah (8), along with Ishmael (9), and finally God commands him to sacrifice Yitzchak upon an altar (10). So many trials does Avraham face. And these are not the normal trials of life. These are related to life, death, injury, and loss. And still, Avraham keeps going. He exemplifies the attribute of Chesed, of lovingkindness. He looks after his family, after Lot, his household. He cares for strangers. He prays for those who have done him wrong. He persists.

I really wanted to talk about the parsha today, to not think about current events. If I gave a sermon about current events for as long as the world seems crazy, I don’t know when I would give another normal dvar Torah on the parsha. If I dedicated a speech to every act of antisemitism or rally against Israel that occurred, I might never stop harping on the same topic. So I was determined to give a normal dvar Torah today. And then I heard that we suffered the deadliest mass shooting of the year in America on Wednesday evening, in Lewiston Maine, with at least 18 people killed and 13 injured.

And I’ll be honest, I felt tired. Worn thin. How many tragedies can happen at once? How much can we process? But then I remembered Avraham. His acts of Chesed, despite all his trials, despite everything. And I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but I had to keep going. We had to keep going. And so, with that said, I am going to give a sermon that I hope to never give again, though I know that sadly, I will. I feel like I have a duty to give this sermon: the Torah teaches us in the book of Vayikra:  לֹ֥א תַעֲמֹ֖ד עַל־דַּ֣ם רֵעֶ֑ךָ Do not stand by the blood of your neighbor. And so I refuse to stand idly by today. The names in this sermon will change, but the message will not. Not until something profound changes in this country.  You might ask, with everything happening in Israel right now, you want to talk about this? Yes. Because Israel is our home but so is America, and we must also pay attention to what is happening in our country.

Normally, at this point, I would say I want to not focus on the murderer, but on the victims. I would readout the victims names, and say a sentence or two about who they were. But I can’t do that today. As of the time of writing, the names have not been released. And 18 dead, with potentially more, means that I could spend this entire sermon just speaking about them. I don’t know their names. But I honor their memory. These souls are gone from us, lives taken senselessly. Nothing can bring them back.

The United States leads the world in mass shootings. This is a simple fact. And one of the most frustrating, and sad, realities of this fact is that we as a nation have done very little to address this problem. Very few laws have been passed, very few changes made. It is easier to get a gun legally in America than in almost any other country. Consider Israel as an example. In Israel, if you are not in the military, you need to apply for a permit, and can only be granted one handgun, with a maximum of 50 rounds of ammunition. In addition, you must provide a valid reason for needing the gun.

I am sure there are people right now thinking “But we have the 2nd Amendment!” And that is true. We have the 2nd Amendment here in America, which guarantees the right to bear arms. I am not a legal scholar, nor an expert on Constitutional law. I can only share the Jewish point of view. And Judaism, existing long before guns and America, does not have the 2nd amendment. In fact, classical Jewish views on weapons are rather strict.

The Talmud, in Tractate Avodah Zarah, states “ועוד תניא אין מוכרין להם לא זיין ולא כלי זיין ואין משחיזין להן את הזיין” “One may not sell to Gentiles weapons, or auxiliary weapons, or sharpen their weapons.” The Gemara later adds “כדרך שאסור למכור לעובד כוכבים אסור למכור ללסטים ישראל” “Just as it is forbidden to sell weapons to Gentiles, so to is it forbidden to sell weapons to a Jewish bandit.” The Gemara asks why it needs to spell out the prohibition. Isn’t it obvious that selling to a Jewish bandit would lead to murder? Rather, the Gemara answers, it is forbidden to sell weapons even to a Jewish bandit who has no plans on killing. Since a weapon can always be used to kill, even a person who has no plans on using the weapon to kill may end up one day killing a person.

I am not a legal scholar. I am not here to tell you how to balance the 2nd Amendment with the need to keep people safe. I am here for a simple reason: 18 or more people have died in America because we do not take guns seriously enough. These are my Jewish values: weapons are dangerous tools that are designed to take lives, and we learn that one life is the equivalent of an entire world. לֹ֥א תַעֲמֹ֖ד עַל־דַּ֣ם רֵעֶ֑ךָ Do not stand by the blood of your neighbor.

 Throughout his life, Avraham demonstrated his Chesed in multiple ways: he marched on armies when it was appropriate, and cared for the sick when needed. And in the spirit of acts of Chesed, I have some suggestions to make to you, about what you can do, since we are not helpless.

First, I want to recommend the non-profit Sandy Hook Promise. Sandy Hook Promise was founded by family members after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school in 2012. The organization particularly focuses on how gun violence affects children. They support numerous projects, including mental health and acceptance in schools, anti-bullying programs, and gun control legislation. Right now, they are working on a bipartisan background check expansion act. After Shabbat, you can go on their website and sign the petition to pass the Bill in Congress. I’ve already signed. You can also donate, and put your money behind a good cause. I’ve donated as well, and I encourage you to do the same. There are also other organizations that also do good work for fighting gun violence. I’ve already done the work of investigating the Sandy Hook Promise, but you can research and donate to the organization of your choice. But I encourage you—sign petitions, donate to good causes, and act.

And secondly, I want to emphasize the power that we in this room have. We have more power than most Americans. We live in a purple state. That means every politician, Democrat and Republican, is concerned about getting your vote, because there are few guaranteed wins here. Use that power. Call Senators Ossoff and Warnock. Write to Governor Kemp. Phone Congressman Carter. There are solutions we can take. We can invest in mental health programs. We can invest in gun control. And most importantly, we can make a difference.

I know you are feeling stretched thin. I know that I am. I know there seems like a million things to advocate for right now. Just two weeks ago I told you to donate and call your representatives to get them to stand for Israel, and now I am doing so again to tell them to take a stand against mass shootings. It is all too much. But remember Avraham avinu. Remember how he stood through ten trials and still, and still, he persisted with his deeds of Chesed. His is a model for all of us to remember, and all of us to strive toward. May we all, even in those moments of trial, do our best to keep bringing Chesed into the world.