Dear Kol Rinah Family,
I find myself fascinated this week by the end of the story of Jacob, Leah, Rachel, and Lavan. Jacob comes to his uncle Lavan seeking a wife, falls in love with Rachel, marries Leah then Rachel, and works for Lavan their father for fourteen years. As Jacob, Rachel and Leah are leaving Lavan and returning to Canaan, Rachel steals her father Lavan's idols. Lavan comes after them, and Jacob promises no one has stolen the idols. The Torah is clear: "Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them" (Gen. 31:32). Jacob is then incensed that Lavan accused him and his household of stealing the idols.
In this moment, Jacob is completely certain that he and his family are innocent. Lavan had been certain that Jacob's party had stolen his idols, and that someone was guilty.
And that's how things stay, presumably with neither Jacob nor Lavan ever learning that Rachel stole the idols. It calls into question what it means to be certain.
Just consider all the certainties humans have possessed that have turned out, it seems, to be wrong, from science (the earth is flat) to history (the Nazis couldn't possibly be trying to kill millions of Jews), to the personal (these two people will love each other forever, and will never divorce).
Certainty feels as far from our reach as ever. I often even find myself suspicious of people who express certainty in ways that are too strong. How could they know?
And yet, it feels so good to be certain, and it can so hard to live in and with uncertainty. We can't help but yearn for a measure of certainty, and losing our certainty destabilizes our worldview, our ability to trust ourselves, and our ability to trust others: "If I was wrong about that, what else could I be wrong about?"
Once Rachel steals the idols, is it better that she's never found out? Would it have been too destabilizing to Lavan and Jacob to discover that she had stolen them? Or is truth actually the most critical thing?
Would you always rather "know?"
Candle lighting tonight is at 4:22pm.
We'll have Kabbalat Shabbat and ma'ariv tonight at 6pm--join me for a non-instrumental welcome to Shabbat with lots of singing.
Tomorrow morning we'll begin at 9am. I'll be leading Torah Talk at about 10:10am, where we'll look more closely at this episode of Rachel stealing the idols, and try to understand why she stole them.
Karen Kern will lead Tot Shabbat at 10:45am.
I'll be speaking in my sermon about the complications of vigilante, extra-judicial justice (inspired/troubled by recent headlines).
Shabbat ends at 5:24pm.
I'm leaving Sunday for Israel, for the Rabbinical Assembly's biannual convention. I'll be back next Sunday, and look forward to sharing with you after I return some of what I see and hear while there.
Our congregational annual meeting will be this Sunday, December 8 at 3pm.
Starting Sunday will be our Winter Clothing Drive. See here for a list of the items that are needed.
Wednesday, December 18 at 6:30pm will be the final meeting of our Grief Havurah, which has been led for more than a year by Rabbi Jessica Shafrin.
We'll be having a blood drive on Sunday, December 22 from 10:30am-3:30pm. Details and signup are here.
Also on Sunday, December 22 will be "A Fond Look Back/Ethnic Potluck," which will combine some history about the roots of Kol Rinah as well as its legacy congregations BSKI and Shaare Zedek, along with a potluck. Details and signup here.
For more and collected Israel information, see this page on our website, as well as the Jewish Federation of St. Louis's Israel Resources page.
Every Shabbat and festival morning, we are still reciting a prayer for the State of Israel, a prayer for Israel Defense Forces soldiers, and a prayer for hostages, who have now been in captivity 427 days.
May the one who makes peace in the heavens make peace over us, and over all Israel, and over all who dwell in the world.
Shabbat shalom, and see you in shul,
Rabbi Noah Arnow
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Phone: 314-727-1747