Sacred Moments - Toldot 2012

Do you have a favorite movie? Have you ever thought about what makes that particular story resonate so deeply within your soul? One of my favorite films is Barbara Streisand's Yentle. It’s the story of a brilliant young woman with a golden voice and a fiery commitment to master the male dominated world of Talmud and Torah. She meets a brilliant and dashingly handsome young scholar and despite the barriers which their world places between them they become partners and friends along life's often twisted way. There is a scene, just a brief moment in the scheme of the many larger themes within the film. Yentle's father, who is her teacher and her only real friend, dies very early in the story. Having spent her life in secret study, she disguises herself as a young boy and enrolls in a great Yeshivah to test her skill and to taste the Torah from the words of one of its greatest masters. After a long and challenging examination by the Rabbi she emerges from his office into the great hall of study. The Rabbi congratulates her on the wisdom she has gained from her father's teaching and sets about searching for a worthy partner to match her strength. She has done it, and the secret world she has longed for is finally about to unfold before her eyes. The voices fade into the background as Yentle gazes about the room. She drinks in the light as it streams down through open skylights upon teeming young scholars as they pore over dusty volumes of Jewish law and lore. She day dreams of the years of preparation which have brought her to this day. She shivers from the fear and the excitement of this magnificent moment. And then she sings these words: "There are moments you remember all your life, there are moments you wait for and dream of all your life, this is one of those moments." She is, at that moment, exquisitely aware that these brief ticks on the clock of her life will mark a turning point which will change her and her world forever. And she opens her eyes to the tiniest details of that moment in time, so that she might carry them with her always along whatever road which life might have in store for her for all the moments, days, weeks and years to come. Life is a collection of these moments strewn together by the simple, but necessary labors that bring such moments to life. Here is the answer to the eternal question which Jewish parents have asked each other and their rabbis for generation upon generation in this land: "How can I make my children Jewish?" The answer, quite simply is "You can't." You can't make them, but you can provide for them an opportunity to choose Judaism for themselves and for their children by teaching them to recognize the wonder of moments such as these and to be open to their life changing power. These are the moments which make for Jewish Identity. This place is a place of such moments. Tomorrow will mark such a moment in one life, when a young woman, wrapped in a beautiful shawl which her learning has weaved, will read with a new voice from an ancient scroll the story of our people now ages old. Like a link in the chain from the past to the future, Torah joins her with the children yet to be... She can now be a part of the ongoing stream that has always been. And as we teach, the boundaries of these four walls are not the boundaries within which such memories must be lived. Our Jewish selves emerge from this sacred place to bring our learning and covenantal living to the world of our daily activity. The portion we read from this evening presents us with the message that transitions are necessary. As we learned just a moment ago, the emergence of a new generation in the shadows of the blessing by the previous generation is a sacred act. In this story, the intervention of Rebekah at the silent urging of God into the encounter between Isaac and his sons, changes the course of the text. Clearly Rebekah, and God, and Isaac (I believe) saw something unique in the personality and faith of Jacob. Was Isaac duped, the blind and unseeing father? Not at all, Isaac, though blind, saw quite clearly that day. His eyes may have become dimmed, but his heart was seeing with clarity the importance of the choice ahead of him. According to rabbinic tradition, Esau represented the animal in all of us, our spirit for survival, and our need for basic human things. There was no depth to his spirit and no meaning to his soul. And yes, the rabbinic tradition demonizes him and brands him the catalyst for Rome and the ultimate cause for destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. It is through the descendants of Esau that our intimate relationship with God is severed. Jacob represents the nurturing image of God. He is the home body, the helper, the child of his mother and the ultimate student of Torah. He finds the meaning in the moments and the message in all communication. Jacob, for the rabbis, represents the depth of human emotion and spiritual language that protects the Jewish people and maintains the divine covenant. It is through Jacob that the rabbis recognize the transmission of value and meaning. It is through Jacob that salvation will be found. And it is why we are called “b’nai Yaakov or B’nai Israel” because our lineage stems from this line and these values. Two children, one message, future. Which will create the path to a future filled with blessing? When seeking meaning in this portion, we ask the question about our own identity. What aspect of our selves do we want the next generation to preserve? How do we want to be remembered? Isaac and Rebekah hoped for a future of value, where family and faith are nurtured and transmitted from generation to generation. I believe they chose consciously … Isaac was not blinded or duped, Rebekah did not deceive or lie. Jacob and Esau were not pawns in a scene about favoritism. This was the birth of identity … the next generation who would carry the torch of faith into and through Egypt was chosen.   These are the moments that no one can take away, no wave can wash away, no fire can burn away, no time can wear away. This heritage of faith is the most lasting legacy which we can give to our children. And so like Isaac, facing his choice of which value to pursue, our tradition teaches us to reach deep into the faith of our ancestors and seek the light of Torah. Our challenge as Jewish parents and grandparents is to bequeath to our children more than just stuff, more than trinkets that tell the story of our lives. We have to give them a gift and a blessing that reaches back in time to the very beginnings of our people and reaches forward to an eternity of blessing. The Great Jewish Philosopher Martin Buber once said: That speaking of faith was like going to a restaurant, reading the menu, and then leaving before the meal is served. No matter how good the description, it bears scant resemblance to the meal. Living your Judaism is a feast for the soul and in doing so you make menus obsolete. Back to Yentle … These are the moments that make for Jewish living and we collect them one by one along our way. "These are the moments you remember all your life, the moments you wait for and dream of all your life, this is one of those moments." Shabbat Shalom.