They were killed, and all they did was take pride in their identities – they were dancing, celebrating, socializing. In fact, what those 49 were doing in Orlando is not too dissimilar to what we do here – we gather together in celebration, we socialize, we pray. We are here to display our pride – our Jewish identity.
Earlier this week, on Monday morning, fifty Jews became B’nei Mitzvah.
As Natalie [Bat Mitzvah girl on bima] knows, any Bar or Bat Mitzvah is an extraordinary celebration of Jewish life, commitment and continuity. But this celebrationion was different.
It was different because these 13 men and 37 women were not able to celebrate a Bar or Bat Mitzvah when they were 13. When they were teenagers, some of them lived in concentration camps. Some were penniless and could not take time away from difficult laborious jobs to train and tutor. Others hid their Jewishness out of fear. All 50 of these adult B’nei Mitzvah are Holocaust survivors.
In Numbers chapter 12, Miriam harshly criticizes her brother Moses for marrying a Kushite woman. Following that, she is quickly punished. As the Torah tells us, Miriam became leprous, white as snow.
Almost immediately, Moses cries five words to God, El na r’fa na lah. – Please God, heal her. These 5 words are the only words uttered by Moses in this Torah portion. Each of these short words ends in a vowel, as if Moses is crying out, shouting to God with all of his strength. Saying the words, you can almost feel the deep longing of Moses’ words.
(sing) I wanna sing sing sing I wanna shout shout shout I wanna sing I wanna shout, praise the lord! Praising the Lord, giving thanks…
Now that we are free, the real work begins. … This Torah portion of P’kudei concludes the building of the Tabernacle. The Israelites left Egypt,…
51 years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. led three marches between Selma and Montgomery, Alabama. These marches were meant to highlight the social injustices against African-American citizens. Specifically, black Americans wanted to highlight the unconstitutional injustice of not being able to vote.