Rabbi Sherman - Honorable Mensch-ion

The first week of June at Sinai Temple is filled with graduations. The eighth graders of Sinai Akiba Academy complete their middle school studies and move on to high school, the fifth graders move up to middle school within the same sacred synagogue space, and our pre-kindergarteners culminate their pre-school experience ready to soak up Judaism and general studies in lower school. At the pre-school graduation, ECC Director Sarah Klinger read the children’s book What Do You Do With An Idea? The story inspires children to take the ideas in their head, give them the space to grow, and see what happens next.

Each morning, I say the blessing pokeach ivrim: We thank God for opening our eyes. I take these words literally. Without the assistance of a heavy prescription of contact lenses, I see a blurry world as I wake up.

Each week, words freely flow from my fingertips while composing a Shabbat message to our community. Yet, this morning, I stared at a blank page for hours. What words can describe the week that was, the murder of 19 children and two lifelong educators? After days like Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York, and a litany too long to list, the simplest question we ask and most difficult to answer is, “Why?”

When I lived in Israel in 2007, I had a return flight to the United States on Lag BaOmer. As the plane took off over the land, you could see bonfire after bonfire, town by town, light up the night sky. That image is hard to recreate in the United States. For many years, my good friend, colleague, and neighbor, Rabbi Jason Fruithandler, and I would take our children to the backyard and attempt to create a small flame as we roasted marshmallows and celebrated the joys of Torah study.

There is a fine line between sacred and profane, holy and ordinary, pure and impure. That grey area is where the prophets live.

We as Diaspora Jews have a dual identity. We celebrate Israel’s birthday and we celebrate America’s birthday. We have feasts both on Rosh Hashanah and Thanksgiving.

As the synagogue has fully opened over the last several months, the constant question is: “Will they come back?”

We are a people that remembers. This week, we will commemorate the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust on Yom HaShoah. The next week, we will remember on Yom HaZikaron, the fallen soldiers of Israel who gave their life to give us a life in the Jewish state.

My son was recently awarded the game ball in his Little League. He put the ball in a glass case and proudly displayed it in the living room. Last week, we found the case shattered and asked him why he did not properly take care of his prized possession. He told us this: “It’s really too hard too explain.” After a bit of hesitation, the truth came out.

Mah Nishtana: Why is this night different than all other nights? That is the question that the youngest child will ask at our Seder Table next Friday night.