Rabbi's Message
TURNING THE BAD INTO GOOD
For Jews, to wander through Lower Manhattan is to see reminders of a time, a century and more ago, when our ancestors - some three million of them - including some of our grandparents - came from persecution in Eastern Europe to this country. Of course, when we gaze upon the Statue of Liberty, which first greeted them, we can begin to understand what a beacon of hope and promise it was to our weary ancestors. A trip to Ellis Island recalls the long, excruciating examination process that these arrivals had to go through. And then, a walk through the old streets of the Lower East Side, looking up at the original tenement buildings helps us recall the cramped living conditions of our forebearers before they or their children were able to move out to other areas of the city.
Looking back at these Jewish immigrants is a dramatic process of going from adversity to triumph. Through sheer resolve, they were able to turn the horrors of Czarist oppression in Russia to productive lives in America. Interestingly, they were actually following a Biblical paradigm i.e. God urging us all to turn our curses into blessings.
Currently, we are reading the book of Numbers on Sabbath mornings in the synagogue. In the portion entitled Balak, we will learn how the Israelites were confronted by a wicked soothsayer who had been engaged by the Moabite King to curse them. But God changes the intended evil words into a glorious blessing: "How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, thy dwellings, O Israel!" (Numbers 14:5).
How appropriate is this summons for us in these difficult and uncertain economic times. With the aftereffects of the pandemic in full swing, causing so many businesses to fail, a painful situation is presented to us. In addition, as a result of the Colonial Pipeline hack, gasoline prices in some parts of the country are inching up toward the $3 mark. But, as with those immigrant forebearers, with our resolve, it actually can spur us on to betterment in our lives. It is hoped that the elevated gasoline prices will speed up our government's efforts and encourage it to find alternate energy sources thus making us less dependent on fossil fuel. And, with a tighter economy, this should motivate us to better order the financial priorities in our own lives. Yes, turning curses to blessings, the Biblical mandate can truly be realized by us.
The Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, The East Side Tenements, and the spirit living in these places is not only our heritage, it is also a clarion call for us to rise up and meet new challenges head on.
