In the Talmud we read a story about the sage Rabbi Meir and his wife B’ruria who was also a Torah scholar, one of very few women mentioned in the text. They lived 1,800 years ago in the region they would have called Yehuda (Judah) or Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel) around the time that Provincia Judaea of the Roman Empire was joined with the Galilee to become Provincia Syria Palaestina. Rabbi Meir was a student of the great Rabbi Akiva and witnessed his teacher’s brutal execution.
We read: “There were some lawless men in Rabbi Meir’s neighborhood who really bothered him. Rabbi Meir prayed for [Divine] mercy on them, so that they die. Rabbi Meir’s wife B’ruria said to him: What’s your thinking? It’s written: Let sins [חַטָּאִים] cease from the land? (Psalms 104:35) Is it written sinners?…Sins is written!…Instead pray for mercy on them, that they should turn back in teshuvah…And he prayed for mercy on them, and they turned back in teshuvah.” (Berakhot 10a, 3-4)In Hebrew the difference between sins – חַטָּאִים – and sinners – חוֹטְאִים – is just one small letter (the vav) which could easily be overlooked. Beruryah was known for brevity and precision. We could also translate these terms as wrongdoings and wrongdoers.
“To turn back in teshuvah” is an idiom commonly translated as “to repent,” but I prefer an English wording that gives the feeling of stopping in your tracks when about to do something wrong and turning back toward better action, toward your better self.
We’re living at a time when a wrongdoer, a convicted felon, an unrepentant criminal has been elected to the highest office of the land. Woe is us! It will take all the moral, intellectual and spiritual strength we can muster to get through the next four years, to protect vulnerable populations and the environment. The people ascending to power are deeply flawed. They openly deride others. They make statements many of us consider to be not just prejudiced but hateful. We will be tempted over and over again to wish for their demise. But it would be a grave mistake to let our antipathy turn into hatred. If that happens, the haters whom we hate have become our teachers, heaven forbid! If we allow our hearts to harden against those whom we see as other-than-us, we each become small Pharaohs, indifferent to suffering. Better for us to become B’ruria’s students, to pray and work for return to healthy values, to right action and enduring ideals.
For more about Pharaohs: Paragons Protesting Power, an elegant and compelling reflection by Rabbi Matt Dreffin of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights.
As your rabbi, I’ll do everything I can to help us keep our hearts from hardening. We can do this through ritual, community, music, study, stories, celebration, working together for the social good, deeds of lovingkindness, and the pursuit of peace. In the Talmud we also read, “Be like the students of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving all creatures and drawing them close to Torah, to Jewish wisdom.” (Pirkei Avot 1:12)
הֱוֵי מִתַּלְמִידָיו שֶׁל אַהֲרֹן, אוֹהֵב שָׁלוֹם וְרוֹדֵף שָׁלוֹם, אוֹהֵב אֶת הַבְּרִיּוֹת וּמְקָרְבָן לַתּוֹרָה
All members and friends of our Congregation are very important to me. Some of you I know well and others I look forward to knowing better. I wish the best for all of you. I’m especially concerned for our young people and children. I want you to know how deeply fulfilling it is for me to serve you as a teacher and spiritual guide. I could not imagine a more meaningful life.
L’shalom ~ For peace,
Rabbi Naomi
