Rabbi Sherman - Honorable Mensch-ion

As I meet with b’nai mitzvah each week, I tell them that one day, many years from now, they will find their Dvar Torah in a drawer. When they reread their words, the relevance will be as clear as the...

On a recent trip to visit family, I had the opportunity to go down memory lane and show my children all the summer fun I experienced with my parents: Biking down the boardwalk, riding the waves in the Atlantic Ocean, and going on the same waterslides I went on over three decades ago. It was a new generation of cousins doing the same things, having the same conversations, and creating the same memories I was given as a child. Everything appeared the same and everything appeared different. The slides were not as big as I thought they were, the boardwalk was not as long as I had imagined, and the water was not as deep as I thought.

Who is responsible for blessings and who is responsible for rebuke? Just a few weeks ago, we read of Bilam, who was supposed to curse the Jews but blesses them. This Shabbat, it is Moses, the leader of the Jewish people, who rebukes his own community.

"This is the land.” These are the words of our Torah as we conclude the book of Numbers. As Rabbi Pinchas Peli writes, “No more promises of milk and honey, no more rumors of all kinds regarding the land. The people must start seeing reality as it is, with all its problems and all its potential blessings. 'This is the land!'”

We left for Israel on June 11th. It would be my second time visiting Israel—I had last been there in 8th grade with Sinai Akiba Academy. My brother had never been; this would be his Bar Mitzvah trip. My mom hadn’t been in more than 25 years (but had lived off and on for over two years), and my dad had just gone a couple of months ago. We were all so excited for our trip. We’d visit cities like Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa, and go north to the Galilee and Golan. We also planned to visit an October 7th memorial, paying our respects to its many victims. Another significant part of the trip was to visit close cousins, but due to all of our sight seeing, time spent with cousins was supposed to be brief.

What is the difference between a righteous and wicked person? Rabbi Z.S. Suchard teaches that when a righteous person is in trouble, they seek a blessing, that they should be uplifted. A wicked person seeks to curse someone else. Why seek a blessing in such difficult times? A blessing enables us to change ourselves so that we become a different person. So often we ask why others have not changed their ways to make our lives better, yet we have not looked into the mirror to change ours. This week, we once again hear the beautiful blessing Bilam gave the Jewish people, the words of Mah Tovu said each morning we step foot into the synagogue. Yet, we know those words were intended to be a curse. Bilam exemplifies the righteousness that can exist in the world with this mindset. There are plenty of reasons to curse in our world. Yet, there are more than enough reasons to bless. Simple things--over a cup of water, a piece of bread, the ability to wake up each morning.

Today is the 4th of July, and it is also Shabbat. Tonight, there will be fireworks celebrating the birthday of the United States of America.

Today, we welcome the month of Tammuz. Each Rosh Chodesh, we recite Hallel, a series of Psalms of praise. It appears contradictory to sing with joy as we enter a month that begins three weeks of mourning, on the 17th of Tammuz, where we commemorate the breaching of Jerusalem’s walls prior to the destruction of the second temple.

Last week, I received a call from a doctor who is a member of Sinai Temple. He told me about a patient who brought him an envelope with a message attached. It read, “Here is a donation, please give it to someone who will bless the people of Israel.” On the envelope was a sticky note with the words of Isaiah, a blessing to the future of the Jewish people.

There are no words to describe the feelings we felt this week, beginning with the preemptive Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities and concluding with Iran’s direct missile hit on the Soroka Hospital emergency room, which miraculously was evacuated 24 hours earlier.