I am very excited for the opportunity to share words of Torah with you. Each week, in this spot, I look to share an idea I've found that speaks to me and that I think will resonate with you as well.
This week, I share an excerpt from an article from Rabbi Eitiel Goldwicht entitled 'Let There Be Light', which speaks about our goals, personally and collectively, as we head into this new Jewish year.
The holidays are behind us and we're heading back into our regular schedule, if we can even call it that this year. For some of us it might be heading back into a harsh reality and a time of uncertainty. Just the thought of "where we are heading this year" may cause pangs of anxiety. [...]
The secret to overcoming these challenges lies within the [...] verse, “And God said, let there be light, and there was light.” The Torah is not a history book, nor a scientific manual, rather it is an eternal guidebook for life. The first Heavenly command in creation, “let there be light” is an eternal command, it is a mission for us, it is as if God is saying you be a light in my world, a light in the face of darkness.
Light is intangible, one cannot hold it, but it is everything. With it we can experience everything we have to its fullest, and without it, we are lacking everything. Wisdom, kindness, values and spirituality are like light to the world. They too are intangible, but a world void of these essential pillars is sorely lacking.
[...] This is the time to do more acts of kindness and light up someone’s day. The time to bring more light onto the world through the values and spirituality of the Torah, as Proverbs says “A mitzvah is a candle and Torah is Light.” As well as bring light through rebuilding Jerusalem, physically and spiritually, as it says “Jerusalem is the light of the world.”
This is the eternal mission of the Jewish people. The more we light up ourselves, our communities, and the world with values and spirituality, the more we are sure to see a brighter future.
Have a Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Davies
Rabbi@SOICherryHill.org
