Community Blog

Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Pinchas, which includes the blessing of the priest Pinchas, who is being rewarded for murdering some interfaith couples (Big Yikes), then discusses the Daughters of Tzelophechad (Yay Feminism), moves on to Moses appointing his successor (hooray for Joshua), and concludes with a listing of sacrifices (snooze). You will hear more about the Daughters of Tzelophechad tomorrow from our amazing Bat Mitzvah, so I wanted to talk a bit about the Haftarah tonight, and tell you a bit about how great it is to celebrate a Bat Mitzvah. 

The Haftarah this Shabbat comes from the beginning of the Book of Jeremiah. The thematic Haftarah connected with Parashat Pinchas is from I Kings chapter 19, which talks about Elijah the prophet anointing Elisha as his successor, a clear parallel to Moses and Joshua. However, in years when Parashat Pinchas is read after the 17th of Tammuz, which is most years, we are in the three weeks of reading Haftarot of Desolation. We chronicle the time between the siege on the walls of Jerusalem until the destruction of the Temple by reading these words of the prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah, who were living through the Babylonian conquest and preparing to flee their homes. All in all, kind of a bummer. 

But, as I’ve been listening to Naomi read these verses in our practice times together these past weeks, I keep getting hooked on the line “Do not say, ‘I am still a youth’” from Jeremiah 1:7. God assures Jeremiah that his youth will not hinder his ability to prophesy, “But go wherever I send you, And speak whatever I command you. Have no fear of them, For I am with you to deliver you — declares GOD.” As you will hear tomorrow, the youth are capable of great things. All they need is some encouragement. 

Human Rights Careers has an article online about eleven student protests that changed the world, starting in 1925 with the Fisk University protests to allow greater freedoms on campus, including interactions between students of different sexes and races. I can only assume they didn’t start with 1899 because the Newsies weren’t students, but otherwise another great example of youth-led change for the better. The article also lists the White Rose Movement, students who bravely stood up against Hitler’s rise to power in Germany in the 1940’s, and the Greensboro sit-ins organized by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, among other examples, up to the current Climate movement led largely by students and young adults. 

I believe the children are our future. We must teach them well and let them lead the way. In all seriousness, though, young people have been at the forefront of so much important change in the world. Most of the activists in movements like those in the Human Rights Careers article have been older youth, the 18-25 year old cohort, but plenty has been done by younger people too. Think about how many feel-good articles are about middle or school students organizing their peers to force their county to open a new library, or ensure their school recycles, or whatever. It is often more local things like that rather than national or global policy changes, but it still makes a difference, and it prepares those kids for a future of continuing to push for progress. Never tell a young person that they can’t do or know something because they are young, or accept that response from a young person themselves. Gently teach them and mentor them in ways to better achieve their goals, but never dismiss them outright, or allow them to discount themselves. 

May we see a future brighter than we could have imagined, led by the next generation of imaginative, bright, leaders, and may we appreciate the joy in getting to watch them grow along the way. Amen and Shabbat Shalom.