UNITED STATES
The Jewish Week
Tue, 09/22/2015
Rabbi Ari Hart
As we leave Rosh Hashanah and head into Yom Kippur, the sound of crying is echoing in my ears. The theme of crying appears throughout the liturgy we recite, it’s mirrored in the sounds of the shofar, and it pours forth from the souls of members of our community.
In recent years, we’ve heard more and more stories, more and more cries of sexual abuse in the Jewish community coming to light, across the globe and across denominations. What once perhaps felt shocking and unreal has become tragically commonplace as scandal after scandal unfolds. It is painful and tragic for our community.
The true tragedy, though, is not the embarrassment and shame we feel when abuse is exposed. The true tragedy is that innocent and vulnerable children have been harmed in ways that are permanently scarring – physically, emotionally and spiritually, and we as a Jewish community have many times failed in our responses.
On Rosh Hashanah, we read two Torah portions that share a common, powerful theme. They are both the stories of vulnerable youths saved from terrible harm at the last minute by a compassionate God. Sarah and Abraham cast Ishmael out to the desert. His mother Hagar was unable to bear his cries for water so she abandoned him by a bush to die. God stepped in and provided immediate healing and a path to a bright future for Ishmael. So too with Isaac. Abraham, acting on God’s command, nearly killed his own child until God’s angel stopped him at the last minute, calling out “do not lay a hand upon the child!”
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