Seeing the Well of Possibility

November 18 Shabbat morning sermon:Seeing the Well of Possibility

On October 6, our community gathered in this room to dance, sing, and celebrate finishing the cycle of Torah and starting it again. We read the final verses of Devarim and – without missing a beat – immediately began the book of Bereishit: 

Bereishit barah elohim et hashamayim ve’et ha’aretz, v’ha’aretz hayta tohu vavohu: In the beginning, when the Ineffable One began creating the heavens and the earth, everything was chaotic and in disarray.

We quickly met the first humans, Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden, whose two children Cain and Abel are…not the best of friends. One even kills the other. We witnessed the destruction by flood of everything save Noah and members of his family. 

Two weeks ago we were introduced to Sarah and Abraham, and so the Jewish story begins. Abraham and Sarah have not been able to have a child, so Abraham does so with Sarah’s maidservant Hagar. His name is Ishmael. Later, Sarah and Abraham finally have their own child together. His name is Isaac. These two brothers – Ishmael and Isaac – have a challenging time: their odd family make-up is strained and filled with tension. These brothers are…not the best of friends. 

This week’s parashah begins with Isaac married to Rebecca and she is now pregnant with twins. Esau is firstborn and Jacob follows, born holding onto his brother’s heel. The two grow up and could not be more different. They too…were not the best of friends. Our parashah is filled with the stuff movies are made of: Esau trades away his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew, followed by Jacob tricking his now-blind father Isaac into bestowing on him the blessing that was intended for firstborn Esau. The fallout from that was intense with Jacob running away from home lest his brother seek revenge and kill him. A family-friendly story the Torah is not. 

Do you notice the repeated trope of animosity, jealousy, and division between siblings? The Torah tells us that two nations were in Rebecca’s womb. The Torah also tells us that two nations came from Isaac and Ishmael. We are told that the line of Judaism travelled from Isaac and the line of Islam travelled from Ishmael. Muslims believe that Mohammad was the descendant of Ishmael. Throughout history, we have seen this sibling rivalry repeatedly on a national and global scale. 

What is unfolding now in Gaza and Israel is more of this sibling strife, lived out in a seemingly never-ending cycle of geopolitics, theology, and the fight for democracy. What we forget is Isaac and Ishmael are BOTH the children of Abraham. Both people share a parent. 

There is an episode in this week’s parashah where Isaac returns to the place where, once upon a time, his father Abraham had dug wells of water. By the time Isaac arrives, the wells had become obstructed and dry. Isaac begins the difficult work of re-digging the stopped-up wells and he digs three wells before achieving success – a connection with the source. Each well had a name. The first was called Esek (Contention), the second Sitnah (Enmity), and the third well was called Rechovot (Spaciousness). Rabbi Shefa Gold offers a beautiful teaching about these wells and how they connect to Isaac’s children Esau and Jacob:

“Isaac’s sons mistakenly believe in the scarcity of blessing. They are torn apart because of the tragic conviction that only one of Isaac’s sons may receive his blessing. This system of limiting blessing and creating hierarchy is born of the belief that love and blessing are finite, that there are winners and losers. This idea is drawn from the well of Contention. When I deceive my brother or attempt to steal the blessing from my sister, I am drawing on the well of Enmity (whose waters are poison) which will only drive to greater thirst. From the well of Spaciousness comes the wisdom that our fates are bound up with one another. Your loss, your suffering, is also mine, and true blessing is shared. At the well of spaciousness I slake my thirst with the knowledge that the source of blessing knows no bounds, and that we are each capable of accessing that blessing directly.”

It is this third well, that of Rechovot (Spaciousness) that I wish to consider with you this morning. 

For 6 weeks our worlds have been turned upside down. 1400 Israelis were murdered in one day, many were raped and their bodies mutilated. 240 souls from Israel – comprised of nearly 30 nations – were abducted into Gaza. Thousands upon thousands of Gazans have been killed by the IDF or misfired rockets from within Gaza. Hamas prevents civilians from leaving their homes, leaving innocents in the path of danger and death. Israel has unequivocally stated that they are going to root out and eliminate Hamas. Prime Minister Netanyahu will not agree to a ceasefire until every single hostage is released. Hamas does not act per any international laws of war, including the rule that international humanitarian organizations must be permitted to tend to hostages’ well-being. Settlers in the West Bank have used the war in Gaza as a distraction to engage in violence against Arabs. They in turn fight back…and the cycle goes on and on and on and on… 

I want to see the return of the hostages. I want children reunited with their parents, and grandparents reunited with their grandchildren. I want an end to the death of Gazans. I want an end to the ongoing rockets landing in Israel. I want harmony and rainbows and smiles and friendship.

I want us to remember that we share the same parent Abraham.

My rope has become pretty frayed over the past 6 weeks. I cannot tell you the number of times I wanted to join a march or rally to mourn for the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza…only to be heartbroken that participants in those rallies were chanting for the death of all Israelis (“From the River to the Sea”). And seeing swastikas present at rallies around the world shakes me to my core. I am the grandchild of Holocaust survivors; this is not the message I can stomach to see. 

I want so desperately to see signs like “Free us from Hamas” or “Palestinians for a democratically elected government.” What does one do when one wants to stand with Israel as a Jewish democratic state, as a country that has a right to exist, in support of Jewish self-determination when one ALSO wants to stand with a future hopeful state called Palestine as a democratic state, as a country that has a right to exist, in support of Palestinian self-determination? 

Because that is where I stand. 

Amid all of this despair, I want to share a few examples of hope that stand out to me:

8 years ago a group in Israel was formed called Standing Together, Omdim B’yachad in Hebrew, and Naqif Ma’an in Arabic. Standing Together is predicated upon the centrality of Arab-Jewish partnership, and the organization is an essential voice during this difficult moment in Israeli history. In a sea of divisiveness, this is a group of dedicated Jews and Arabs who are devoted to creating a society capable of achieving peace, equality, and social justice for all.

Standing together organizes protests across the country demanding economic equality, climate justice, and an end to the occupation. They hold workshops on grassroots power, organize get-out-the-vote campaigns, and run candidates for student union elections. Their alternative media outlet, Rosa Media, produces Hebrew and Arabic podcasts highlighting underrepresented political stories and perspectives from across Israeli society. They maintain a robust presence in Israeli social media – combatting extremist voices and advancing hope. ​

Standing Together writes: The existing order is based on three defining factors: on the division of the majority, on passivity and indifference, and on the belief that there is no alternative. Our activism is centered on addressing three measures: connecting people from different communities despite the differences between them, driving people from indifference to activity, and offering a hopeful alternative. The task that “Standing Together” has chosen to tackle is a revolutionary one: We strive to create profound change within Israeli society, the Israeli economy, and Israeli politics. This is not a simple task, but we are inspired by our faith in people: their open minds, their genuine intentions, and their hearts filled with compassion and empathy. We love the people who live here. We are a part of them and we insist on fighting with and for them. Through joint solidarity and struggle, we will succeed.

Two leaders from Standing Together – one Arab Israeli and one Jewish Israeli – recently spent 10 days in the United States speaking with Jewish and Palestinian groups. I watched one of their events last week live-streamed from B’nai Jeshurun synagogue in Manhattan. The event was sponsored by the New Israel Fund and was brought to fruition with the partnership of local progressive synagogues in the city. 

I cried several times while watching this incredible conversation. I would encourage you to watch it and learn about the incredible work being done. 

One more ray of light to share: the Sulha Peace Project. The “Sulha Peace Project” was established in the year 2000 in the midst of the Second Intifada with the goal of creating eye-to-eye, heart-to-heart encounters between Palestinians and Israelis. They believe in the importance of authentic face-to-face meetings as both a condition and a basis for open dialogue and mutual partnership. Conflicts engender erasure of the human faces of the Other. They seek to strengthen humanity and restore the faces of the human beings that live on both sides of the conflict. The Sulha gatherings focus on training people to listen and feel with our hearts – an ability that is necessary for any future solution to this conflict. They operate in Israel and the West Bank, on both sides of the separation barrier.

At last month’s Multifaith Vigil held in Withrow Park, I invited the hundreds of folks in attendance to gaze into one another’s eyes and see the humanity of our siblings. These two organizations – Standing Together and Sulha Peace Project – are pushing against the status quo and birthing a new reality, a new possibility. If you see yourself in either or both of these organizations, please join me in learning more about them and becoming involved. Let us join hands to say that there is another way toward peace. 

Two nations shall come forth from your womb. We are brothers and sisters. We are siblings. We must see the source of all, the well of possibility, and the hope for a better future.