The two Torah portions we read this week remind me of a swinging pendulum. In the middle is where we find the first verse of Parshat Kedoshim: “You should be holy, because I, the Lord, your God is holy.”
It was the day before Pesach and Laura’s friend Froukje came to visit. She’s Dutch, lives in southern Oregon, and true to her heritage, she brought Laura a gift of tightly-closed, striated orange tulips. At the bottom of each petal, the orange shifted colors to a gentle butter yellow. The tulips were exquisite. It was touching to be able to throw a glance at them during our seders. Portland may be experiencing a delayed Spring, but the tulips weren’t much bothered. They were already prepared to do their job.
Illness doesn’t mean that you’re somehow morally flawed; it means that we have work to do to bring healing. As we read this week’s double portion, we’re reminded just how important it is to be both aware of our own bodies and respectful enough of others to keep our fellow community members safe.
Today is Robert Steele’s last day as our security guard, which has led me to meditate on the attention he has given us while watching over our security. He deserves our thanks and praise for how fully and sincerely he was engaged in his mission here. There are people who view their work as a job, leaving it behind them when they go home, but there are others who find a deep sense of purpose in their work. Robert was the latter type; we were so fortunate because of that commitment.
The laws of kashrut are inconvenient in our modern world and often challenging, and yet they fill mealtime with intention and presence instead of gluttony and indulgence.
So much has happened since Pesach last year. The war in Ukraine is now in its second year, Israeli protesters managed to slow the passage of a judicial overhaul that would have eroded a necessary system of checks and balances, while America, in case after case, has been struggling to determine what we think freedom of speech means and where its limits should be. We also witnessed the rollback of Roe v. Wade, which resulted in many states curtailing women’s freedom of reproductive autonomy.
Caring for one another - whether parent to child, child to parent, friend to friend, congregant to clergy - is a way in which we humanize, connect, and lift up those close to us. This act of mutual care appears throughout our Torah, but is poignantly described in our portion this week.
