Adina Roth – Head of Jewish Life

The spiritual work of wood and water

On the last day of camp Ayekah, it was clear that something profound had happened to our students. The walls of the inevitable cliques had come down, students who did not ordinarily sit together were happily connected. They had united as a group. As they spoke about bringing their newfound discoveries back to Emanuel, many of them spoke about the fear of forgetting what had taken place, of losing this beautiful new quality that had emerged. Many of you might relate to their apprehension. We all have moments where things feel forever changed, in a good and new way. Yet, it is sometimes hard to hold on to the good. We wonder, will this last? Or will we forget this newfound habit, this newfound attitude or improved relationship? We worry, will things just revert to the way they were?

Parhat Ki Teitzei ends with a powerful injunction concerning memory and forgetting. Moshe advises the Jewish people, remember what Amalek did to you, how he attacked your weaker ones when you had just come out of Egypt. Amalek did attack the Israelites (starting with the elderly and the children), as we left Egypt and indeed, Amalek needs to be remembered for he comes to represent antisemitism through the ages. There are even those like Nechama Leibowitz, who interpret Amalek to be symbolic of all human suffering in the world. Therefore, we can understand the Torah’s warning to always be on our guard, to remember Amalek’s cruelty and to fight against wanton acts of abuse against any living being. Indeed, this Parsha could be the textual aetiology for the modern-day slogan, ‘Never again!’ That said, the portion ends in a somewhat curious fashion as it juxtaposes calm and security versus the ever-looming threat of Amalek. It reads: Therefore, when your God grants you safety from all your enemies around you, in the land that your God is giving you as a hereditary portion, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!

The tone of calm is juxtaposed with stern threat. After 40 years of wandering through the desert, we arrive in our long awaited Promised Land. We might think we can exhale and rest. And then we are told, we dare not sit on our laurels, we need to always be on the lookout for hatred. Is there no rest for the weary? Can we not just arrive and settle? Apparently, not! There is a curious statement from Buddhist philosophy which reads: Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water…after enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. The great spiritual thinkers understood that humans have work to do in this world. If we keep doing this work, whether it be inner, spiritual work or outer Tikkun Olam in the world, we may sometimes be gifted with actual change, with transformation that supports  social justice causes, with genuine shifts in character. However even after the change, the Torah seems to warn that the work of this world continues. We may have moments of deep and profound shift, but afterwards we still need to ‘chop wood and carry water.’

Our students put in huge effort and were gifted with a profound shift at camp. Walls came down, people saw each other as if for the first time. It is no wonder that they wanted to hold on to this newfound gold, and never forget. The message of this parsha is that even once a shift has happened and we have settled into the new, promised land, our work continues. That is how we do not forget! This is a very deep lesson for our Year 10’s to learn, the lesson of endings and beginnings, of losing and finding, again and again, through the intentional effort of ‘wood and water.’  I believe it is a profound lesson for us adults too…

Shabbat Shalom