What kind of
hopes do we hold from one week to the next?
Sometimes we just
want to get through the next week by fulfilling all of our usual
responsibilities, maintaining as much of a positive attitude as possible, navigating
through the small and major challenges that may come our way, and retaining a
glimmer of optimism that the coming days may bring some unexpected gift or a
welcome opportunity for growth or a new source of satisfaction and even
joy.
These thoughts and considerations may
represent our dreams for the steps immediately ahead of us on our life’s
journey.
In the Torah
reading for this week, Moses brought the Israelites notions that were well
beyond their expectations and dreams.
Their bondage in
Egypt was the same, week after week.
It was all about
survival from one moment to the next, and not provoking the cruelty of a nearby
Egyptian taskmaster. There was little hope for change.
To those people
who were engaged in hard labor, Moses brought a set of promises, dreams of
freedom directly from God:
- I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians
- I will deliver you from their bondage.
- I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and through extraordinary chastisements.
- I will take you to be My people, and I will be your God
- I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession, I the Eternal One.
Moses likely
expected to see wonder and hope in the eyes of the people after they heard him
speak, but the Torah recorded their response in the next verse: “But when Moses told this to the Israelites,
they would not listen to Moses, their spirits crushed by cruel bondage.”
Whenever we
begin the Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday observance weekend, “having a dream”
is very much on my mind, based on the declarations from Dr. King’s speech at
the March on Washington in 1963.
To reexamine
that dream, I went to see the film “Selma” last night on Dr. King’s actual
birthday. Much has been made about
portrayals of President Lyndon Johnson and the involvement of the Jewish
community not being quite accurate. Even
if that is the case, “Selma” effectively
zoomed in on the hard work it took to make known the seriousness of the
plight of blacks who were denied the right to vote. People around the country
accused participants in this movement of provoking the violence of law
enforcement officials and others by their public demonstrations. Dr. King and his partners knew that they couldn’t
stop, for if they did, they would never reach their goal. Instead, they focused “their eyes on the
prize” and continued to keep the issue uppermost in the minds of as many
Americans as possible. After the
attempts to march in Selma had met with resistance, one change, according to
this film, turned the situation around.
THIS IS A SLIGHT SPOILER ALERT!!!
President Johnson told Governor
George Wallace that he didn’t want to be seen as supporting a leader who
refused to guarantee all of the citizens in his state the possibility of full
communal participation. It was then that
Johnson began to openly support the Voting Rights Act, which, in recorded
history, was drafted at the Reform Movement’s Religious Action Center in
Washington, DC. That exchange reminded me of a scene in the
movie 42 which depicted a conversation between Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch
Rickey and the uncooperative Philadelphia Phillies owner Herb Pennock who had
said that his Phillies would refuse to play against the Dodgers if Jackie
Robinson made the trip with his team (some of the language has been updated
just a bit):
Branch Rickey: You
think God likes baseball, Herb?
Herb Pennock: What
is that supposed to mean?
Branch Rickey: It
means someday you're gonna meet God, and when God inquires as to why you didn't
take the field against Robinson in Philadelphia, and you answer that it's
because he was Black, it may not be a sufficient reply!
42 and Selma tell a similar story of a
movement that began with the courage of one person or a group of people to
bring about change that made society more welcoming and inclusive and tried to
truly promote “liberty and justice for all.”
So
what about our dreams and hopes?
What
aspirations do we share with people of all races, ethnicities, faiths,
nationalities and backgrounds?
Or
do people even get to the level of aspirations when their basic needs aren’t
met, often due to no fault of their own when they are working hard to provide
for themselves and their families?
In
the spirit of the 5 promises that Moses proclaimed to the Israelites, I would
offer these updated promises that can apply to all of us as we move forward in
our lives:
I will free you
from the burdens that hold you back from developing your own potential for
strength, wisdom, and generosity.
I will deliver
you from people and circumstances that prevent you from realizing at least some
of your cherished dreams.
I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and
a helping hand through the support and love that will come to you both from
caring strangers and from the most treasured people around you.
I will take you
and link you to other people with whom you can join hands, hearts and minds to
work for freedom, justice, equality, and understanding for all.
I will bring you
to a land, a place, without hatred, violence and prejudice, a place where all
shall sit under their vines and under their fig trees and none shall make them
afraid. I, the Eternal One.
May we make these
dreams, these promises real for ourselves and for our fellow human beings
through dedication and commitment to heal and help every soul and the entire
world.
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