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August 9, 2025 - 15 Av 5785
Dear Friends, Tomorrow, our Kiddush luncheon will be sponsored by Cindi & Stuart Crepea in honor of their fiftieth wedding anniversary. It is lovely that they are sharing their Simcha with the community, so we thank Stuart and Cindi for their generosity. Please be sure to join us at the Kiddush table to celebrate with them and their family and friends. I learned a new Hebrew word this week. Or, at least, it's new to me. As it's found in this week's Torah portion, Va’etchanan, it's not exactly new. In the ongoing review that is the book of D'varim, we are reminded not to worship any creature or being on the earth that God created for us. "...You must not be lured into bowing down to them or serving them. These the Eternal your God allotted to other people's everywhere under heaven; but you the Eternal took and brought out of Egypt, מכור הברזל (Mi-Koor Ha-Barzel), to be God's very own people..." The JPS Torah commentary translates Mi-Koor Ha-Barzel as "that iron blast furnace," referring of course to Egypt. The image brings to mind sweat shop-like conditions for sure, recalling the grueling conditions of bondage in the desert; as well as the more metaphorical concept of a crucible, a gauntlet of 430 years of slavery that hopefully has hardened the resolve of the Israelites into their moment of freedom. This concept works for us, as we have all been through or are going through struggles and crucibles of our own, fighting the good fight, hoping to come out the other side better and stronger than before. And yet, other understandings of the word Koor can lead to different interpretations. For example, another translation of the word is a "refiner of gold." Even more than a crucible to get through, I love this idea that the centuries enslaved in Egypt actually refined the ore and dross of the Israelites into Am Segula, a treasured people, to God and to the world. What if we could look at the struggles we have been through or are going through as though we are being refined into something more precious and valuable than before? Lastly, this week I learned that Koor in modern Hebrew is a reactor, as in nuclear. Nuclear energy, as we know, can bring electricity to millions, and can also be a weapon of mass destruction. To me this points to the idea that we each have tremendous potential within us, heat and energy and creativity in our hearts and souls. And then we each can determine where and how we direct that creativity, whether we seek to be constructive or not. On this Shabbat, and in the days and weeks to come as we approach the High Holidays, ask yourself what kind of Koor will you be? An iron furnace to withstand and survive? A refiner of common elements into gold? A nuclear reactor with potential for enormous impact? Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Joshua Strom
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