Rabbi Howard Morrison

In a non-leap year, the two portions of Acharei Mot and Kedoshim are read together as one unified Torah portion. Acharei Mot begins with "after the death of. . . " The Parsha of Kedoshim contains near the very end, "You shall possess their land, for I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey." Then, one of the Haftarot designated for Kedoshim concludes, "I will restore My people Israel. They shall rebuild cities and and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine; they shall till gardens and eat their fruit. And I will plant them upon their soil, nevermore to be uprooted from the land I have given them."

All of these verses, from the Parsha some 3300 years ago and from the Prophet Amos some 2500 years ago, could have been written in the last 70-80 years. As I hear the words of these texts, I think of the Shoah and even Yom Ha'Zikaron with Acharei Mot, "after the death of." I think of two thousands years without sovereignty in the land of Israel, which came back to our people only in May of 1948, when I hear the words about being restored and re-established in Israel.

These Biblical words appropriately surround new sacred dates on the Jewish calendar which take us from Yom Ha'Shoah V'Ha'Gevura yesterday to Yom Ha'Zikaron seven days later, and Yom Ha'Atzmaut one day after that.

May we all have the spiritual and emotional strength to properly internalize the roller coaster ride of the worst sadness and the greatest joy in modern Jewish history as we transition from remembering the Holocaust to celebrating the State of Israel.

Rabbi Howard Morrison