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On January 1, I was invited to speak at the NAACP’s Jubilee Day gathering. Held each year, the event commemorates the day – January 1, 1863 – that the Emancipation Proclamation took effect, abolishing slavery in the United States of America. While very much a spirited function, I was taken by the number of people, both from the dais and in individual conversation, who expressed outrage at the rise of anti-Semitism and offered to help out in any way they could to combat its scourge. I was PREPARED for the focus to be on the gift of freedom; I was not prepared to have so much attention spent on how best to live now that freedom has been granted: respectfully, responsibly, and with compassion. As a part of a people with our own narrative of slavery, it was a reminder about how we need to similarly take stock of how we are exercising our freedom and how our society can benefit as a result.

Sinai has a history of using our freedom to partner with organizations addressing causes of prime importance to the Jewish community. We have long partnered with the ADL to fight anti-Semitism through a mix of education and action. We have partnered with the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta to address issues more local to the Jewish community in Atlanta, as well as how our Atlanta community can best support Israel. We have often used our congregational trips to provide support or relief to those communities under siege, such as the Jewish community in Cuba and Spain. When challenges have arisen that impact the Jewish community, we have used the gift of freedom to educate and organize, to support those first responders and, at times, to identify how our community can best respond in our own right. While we have not been perfect, we have tried to weigh the best responses to the situations as they have arisen and act accordingly.

We have recently extended that approach to our use of freedom to other areas of importance, areas that may not be specifically Jewish but impact our community in profound ways. This past October, Temple Sinai launched a series of what we are calling Tzedek Circles, gatherings that are led in partnership between clergy and lay members of the congregation, aimed at addressing and exploring four of these areas. Rabbi Segal is the clergy co-chair of the Reproductive Rights Tzedek Circle, a role that Rabbi Trief holds with the Immigration and Refugee Justice Circle. Beth Schafer is the clergy co-chair of the Gun Violence Prevention Circle and I have the opportunity to co-chair the Racial Justice Circle. 

Each Tzedek Circle follows a similar format: there are regular meetings and a part of each meeting finds attendees engaging with Jewish text, processing a relevant piece of scholarship, hearing from a presenter, and discussing actions that can be taken both individually and collectively. Should you find yourself compelled by any of the topics being explored at present by the Tzedek Circles, I invite you to connect with the clergy co-chair to learn more about the meeting schedule and explore how you can be involved. 

In our Torah portion this week, we close the Book of Genesis as we see the Israelites settling in the land of Egypt. We who know the story know that the trajectory of the story becomes tragic as our people is enslaved in the land that once gave us sanctuary. And we know that God ultimately entered the course of human history, changed the laws of nature, and gave us our freedom.

What do we do with it now?

Shabbat Shalom,

Brad