Toledot 2020
In this week’s parsha, Toldot, the Torah tells us Rivka gave birth to two twin brothers, Yaakov and Esav. Esav was a hairy person, a hunter and a man of the field and forest. Jacob was “ish tam,” “a simple man who dwelled in the tent.” Rash”i says “ish tam” means, “Someone who says what is in their heart and can not fool others.” Yet Jacob became in many ways just the opposite of who he naturally was. He fooled his father, strategically manipulated the sheepherding to become wealthy during his time with Lavan, and wrestled with his brother.
We must stand in awe of Yaakov's ability to change. Human beings are incredibly flexible. They have the ability to see new perspectives, to adapt to new methods of working and living, to change the ways in which they function. I think it is this ability to change that enables Yaakov to build the Jewish people. Had he functioned just the way he always had, just the way he was inclined to, as a simple man, he could not have fought, grown, and done all the things he had to do to be the father of the Jewish people.
The Kesher Israel community is like Yaakov in our parsha. We are in a time of transition. We have done a great job being a warm shul, -a place to eat, socialize, daven and learn for over 100 years. But we have an even bigger mission. Kesher Israel has the potential to engage and inspire the wide range and large number of Jews who will not find this inspiration anywhere else. Kesher is unique in that it is urban and diverse. It is populated by brilliant individuals who have come to Washington to make a difference in the world and are deeply committed to Jewish law, life and to Torah. We are seriously observant yet radically welcoming, we are seeped in Torah yet immersed in the national discourse, we are definitively Modern Orthodox yet a comfortable haven for all types Jews.
Our’s is a unique synergy and we have the potential to set an example for, and more profoundly impact the Jewish people: Those encountering Judaism for the first time, those who grew up Jewish but without much knowledge, those who grew up observant, and those who have been Charedi their entire life. But the move from being a community that happens to do those things to being one that thinks strategically about how to do it in the most impactful way, to be leaders of the Jewish people, will take the type of hard change that Yaaakov accomplished. It was not simple for Yaakov and will not be for us, it had ups and downs for Yaakov and so it will for us, but ultimately Yaakov was able to serve the Jewish people in a way he never imagined possible, and so it will be for us.