Rabbi Wilfond’s Weekly Message - December 29, 2023

Have you had an experience that surpassed your expectations? Eight years ago, the oncologist told me 75% of people with my diagnosis don’t survive a year. Eight years ago, I thought I would not live to see my oldest child become a Bar Mitzvah.

In our Torah portion Jacob says to his son Joseph, “I never thought I would see your face again, and now God has shown me your children.” (Genesis 48:10). For Jacob this is a moment of deep joy and reflection.
Jacob looks back on his life. His journey was arduous. During his childhood he fought often with his brother. Then he had to run for his life and flee home when his brother Esau sought to kill him after the death of their father Isaac.
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Later in life, as a middle-aged father, Jacob flees in the middle of the night from his father-in law Laban, taking with him his wives and children. It is during this episode while he is on-the-run that Jacob encounters a mysterious being who threatens to destroy him. They wrestle all night long to the break of dawn. Jacob will survive the encounter but he is permanently injured and will limp for the rest of his life. Jacob learns to live with a physical disability. He also learns to live with the loss of a child. He had been tricked by his sons to believe that Joseph had been killed by a wild beast.  Imagine Jacob’s shock and surprise when discovers his son Joseph whom he thought had died is actually alive, and married with children.

Overcome by joy from the unexpected, Jacob declares “I never thought I would see your face again.” and now God has shown me your children.”

Israel was been in an awful war for more than 80 days. This week Eitan Yahalomi, a 12-year-old hostage, revealed that his captors told him his family has been killed and Israel, his homeland, had been destroyed. Imagine Eitan’s shock when he was released and returned to his mother. In an instant he discovered she was still alive and his country had not been destroyed. This week a video from Israel went viral that showed an Israeli father weeping when his son returned home after serving 75 consecutive days fighting Hamas in the Gaza strip. In the video, the father cries as he hugs his son and quotes the Torah, this week’s words of Jacob to Joseph, “I thought I would not see your face again.”

As we look back at 2023, which is drawing to a close, were there things you never expected? It’s been an intense year. We have seen so many things bad and good, as individuals and as a greater Jewish community.
This week we finish a Book of Torah at the same time we finish 2023. Our community’s tradition when we finish a Book of Torah is to say “Hazak, Hazak v’Netihazek,” which means “May we draw strength as we strengthen one another.”

This is our Jewish prayer and our task as we begin 2024. May we strengthen each other with relationships of honesty, respect and caring for all life, both for those within or community and beyond. Let us pray for a healthier 2024 for all. “Hazak, Hazak v’Nithazek!”

Rabbi David Wilfond