>> Torah portion
Lend A
Hand To A
Stranger
Parshat Lech-Lecha: Genesis 12:1-
17:27; Isaiah 40:27-41:16.
T
his past spring, I marched
as ascending in three stages from a
with Detroit high school
particular to a universal blessing. God
students who are part of
promises:
Youth Voice Detroit. They were protest-
"I will make of you a great nation,
ing because Michigan had allocated
and I will bless you; I will make your
additional money for juvenile prisons
name great, and you shall be a blessing.
in Detroit, but still shockingly little for
"I will bless those who bless you and
public education.
curse him that curses you;
As I walked with them, surrounded
"Through you, all the families of the
by signs reading "Books not Bars:' I
Earth shall be blessed:' (Genesis 12:2-3).
wondered how it could be
We can embody that
that the children of my city
expansive promise to
were crying out for teachers
humanity. It starts with the
and books in their class-
recognition that, like Abram,
rooms — and it seemed
each of us truly is blessed;
unattainable.
and, as a people, our great-
I learned about the protest
ness is expressed through a
from a young adult who
variety of skills and resourc-
grew up at Temple Kol Ami
es. But also, we all have
and was working for the
something to be grateful for
Harriet Tubman Center. He
and something to give.
Rabbi Ariana
begged me to come to the
Next, we recognize that
Silver man
march and bring people
regardless of whether some-
from the synagogue. "These
one blesses or curses us, we
kids simply don't believe he told me,
are constantly in relationship, inextrica-
"that there are very many white people,
bly bound to "the other:'
and especially suburban white Jewish
And finally, when we share our bless-
people, who care about them at all:'
ings with all of humankind, we have the
How and when does another person
potential to fulfill God's ultimate vision.
become "the other," so far removed that
God tells Abram to "turn your gaze
an interaction seems unthinkable? And
toward the heavens and count the stars,
when did we cease to hear our repeated if you can count them ... so shall your
command to care for the ger because we offspring be!" (Genesis 15:5).
ourselves were strangers in the land of
The most recent Jewish population
Egypt?
study tried to measure the Jews by
In parshat Lech-Lecha, Abram (later
counting us. But there is something
renamed Abraham) heeds God's call to
that I believe is limitless: our capacity to
separate from his home and his father,
empower people who seek our partner-
so that he and his wife, Sarai (later
ship — and their capacity to empower us.
renamed Sarah), could become part of
We have an abundance of talents and
God's covenanted people. It is in this
creativity. When we use our blessings
parshah that we see our people begin
to bridge the divide with the other, we,
to define and differentiate themselves
too, are answering God's call.
from "the other."
Ariana Silverman lives in Detroit, where
We are introduced to Hagar, whose
she works with Jews in Downtown Detroit
name is sometimes seen as an allusion
and as the rabbi of the Grosse Pointe
to ha ger (the stranger), and can imag-
Jewish Council. She previously served as
ine her cries as she runs away from
the assistant rabbi at Temple Kol Ami.
Sarai's harsh treatment.
But we also hear the angel of God
comforting and assuring Hagar that
she will have a son named Ishmael
• How do we define the other"?
(God hears) and that God will make
• What can we do to build rela-
her offspring "too numerous to count"
tionships with people who seem
(Genesis 16:10-11). God hears the suf-
like strangers?
fering of the stranger.
• What does it mean to be a
Professor Nahum Sarna character-
blessing to humanity?
ized God's initial promises to Abram
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October 10 • 2013
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