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The Torah – Genesis through Deuteronomy – contains close to 80,000 words. According to one Talmudic tradition (Bavli Kiddushin 30a) a two word emphatic verb – darosh darash(he – Moses – urgently inquired) stands at the geographic center of the Torah’s words. Now the root d,r,sh means ‘to seek out, to care for, to investigate, to search, to be intent on’. And as one 20th century interpreter puts it, there is ‘one darash for the first half of the Torah, and one for the second half.’ Think of it as an invitation to inquire urgently, to care for and about, to search out deep meaning, in both directions, forward and back, past and future, at the same time.
This year we encounter those central words of Torah on the Shabbat between Yom Hashoah – Holocaust Memorial Day – and Yom haZikaron/Yom Ha’Atzma’ut – Israel’s Memorial/Independence Day. Israelis refer to this cluster of observances, commemorations, and celebrations as the yamim – the ‘days’ or the ‘Yoms’. This Shabbat we stand between the yamim, Yom Hashoah and our reflection on the painful horrors of the Holocaust just behind us, Yom Ha’Atzma’ut and our celebration of renewed Jewish sovereignty in our historic homeland just ahead. The Torah’s invitation to seek out meaning lovingly and urgently in both directions couldn’t be better placed.

 

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The ‘lessons’ of the Shoah are many and varied. This year yields a striking learning for us to ponder. According to a new survey conducted by the Claims Conference – http://www.claimscon.org/study – awareness of and real knowledge about the Holocaust are on the decline. For example, nearly one-third of all Americans (31 percent) and more than 4-in-10 Millennials (41 percent) believe that substantially fewer than 6 million Jews were killed (two million or fewer) during the Holocaust. And, while there were over 40,000 concentration camps and ghettos in Europe during the Holocaust, almost half of Americans (45 percent) cannot name a single one – and this percentage is even higher amongst Millennials. On this 75th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, we have a great deal of work to do.
A deep and caring inquiry into the Yom that lies ahead this week also yields many and varied learnings. At this 70th anniversary of its establishment as an independent Jewish state, Israel is strong and prosperous, and also a country facing serious, sometimes excruciating, challenges. Direct threats to Israel’s security remain in both the north and south. How to address and respond to them is highly contested territory; as ever, it’s complicated. The same is true of a series of internal dilemmas. Can Jewish and Arab citizens of the State of Israel build a shared society together? Can Jewish religious pluralism be nurtured and encouraged in the Jewish state? Can Israel welcome refugees from Africa or is it best to find homes for asylum seekers elsewhere? Can democracy continue to thrive in a country built on democratic practice and also pulled and motivated by ethnic and nationalist concerns and demands?
The Torah’s insistent demand of darosh darash calls on us to search deeply and lovingly in the direction of all of this week’s yamim. Knowing our past and charting our future is the holy work – the avodat kodesh – of this Shabbat Sh’mini.

 

Shabbat Shalom!