Rise, Give Light, For Your Light Has Come!

This week’s Parsha, Ki Savo, begins with Moshe Rabbeinu instructing the Israelites to provide the first fruits to the Beis HaMikdash. This act served a seminal purpose: to thank G-d for all His miracles that brought us to Eretz Yisrael. The expository paragraph justifying these gracious acts is so vital to the Jewish people that we hear it in the Passover Haggadah. The Torah reads as follows:

My ancestor was a wandering Aramean. He went down to Egypt and lived there as a stranger, just a handful of souls, and there he became a nation – large, mighty, and great. And the Egyptians dealt cruelly with us and oppressed us, subjecting us to harsh labor. We cried out to the L-rd, G-d of our ancestors. And the L-rd heard our voice and He saw our oppression, our toil, and our enslavement. The L-rd brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and His arm stretched forth, with terrifying power, with signs, and with wonders.

(see Devarim 26:5-8). This is a point worth remembering now.

Why? Because it is difficult to find gratitude in times of great despair. Since October 7, 2023, we have seen tremendous hatred against the Jewish people throughout the world. Here, in the United States, we find ourselves facing pressure from radical ideologues on both sides of the aisle on college campuses; in local, state, and federal politics; and at work. Hate crime rates have increased over 5.3% between 2023 and 2024. G-d only knows what the final tally will be by the end of 2025. And with the assassinations of Israeli embassy staff members and a high-profile pro-Israel Christian conservative, there is increasing fears that the American Jewish community has not yet seen the worst of it.

But even in the midst of fear, there is opportunity. As we read further in Ki Savo, Moshe Rabbeinu offers the Israelites two visions of the future. One consists of incredible blessings should we fully assent to the Covenant at Har Sinai. The other, the Tokhecha, warns us of the geographical, spiritual, and political exile that we will endure (and unfortunately have since endured) should we turn away from HaShem (see Devarim 28:1-69). While this binary is inherently daunting, it makes plain that we have a choice to earn G-d’s blessings to ensure our longevity and our prosperity. That starts, of course, with being grateful that our souls have the opportunity to make a difference in the world. That requires us to spread light and spread love to our own people and to each other.

The Prophet Isaiah in this week’s Haftorah said it profoundly:

“Rise, give light, for your light has come: the glory of the L-rd shines over you, for darkness may cover the earth, and clouds shroud nations, but over you, the L-rd will be shining, His glory manifest over you; nations will walk toward your light, and kings into the brilliance you shine forth.”

(see Yeshayahu 60:1-3). My charge to my fellow American Jews is that we continue to work diligently in maintaining a sense of gratitude still for the blessings we have. The United States of America remains one of the greatest nations in the world. From the earliest days of the republic, our second greatest President, George Washington, made it known that this nation would welcome and protect the Jews. And we overwhelmingly have the support of the nation now as we fight our physical and spiritual battles to ensure our storied existence here.

May we use these dark days as inspiration to rise and give light to all we encounter.

Good Shabbos.