Rabbi Howard Morrison

The tablets - broken and whole

One of the most joyous days of my young life was witnessing the bar mitzvah of my younger brother Mitchell, who chanted all of Parshat Terumah on a Spring like day in February of 1977. My parents and siblings were so proud. Many of our long-distance relatives came to our community for the simcha. I have always associated Terumah with great joy.

This year, while I continue to remember the childhood of myself and my brother, Terumah just does not seem as joyful. The text of the portion is one worthy of rejoicing. The Israelites are instructed to make a portable tabernacle in which to gather and feel God's presence. Every person, rich or poor, can find a way to voluntarily participate in making the Mishkan. When the Ark, the centerpiece of the Tabernacle, is described, the Torah tells us that the tablets of the Ten Commandments were placed inside of it. That portable Ark is parallel to the permanent Ark of the contemporary synagogue which houses our Torah scrolls. Our Sages, however, ask a penetrating question - Which Tablets were placed in the ancient portable Ark? Remember that the Torah has us recall the broken fragments which Moses had smashed upon seeing the golden calf and the new whole tablets which Moses received some time later. 

In the Talmud, our Sages teach us that "Luchot V'Shivrei Luchot Munachim Ba'Aron - the whole Tablets and the broken Tablets were placed inside the Ark," suggesting that a community is only complete when the whole is embraced with the broken.

Each of us at some point in our lives experiences moments of wholeness and brokenness. Is it not important that those experiencing broken moments are cared for by those who feel whole at the time? Is it not important that those of us who feel whole are reminded that at some point in our lives, we too will endure broken moments and will be strengthened by others at that time of our lives?

In our synagogue Ark, we have kosher scrolls and unkosher scrolls. The unkosher ones are in a sense broken. They can never be used again for ritual use. Some of them were rendered unfixable by the horrors of the Shoah. One, on display in our lobby, shows the extreme of a desecrated Torah scroll. Yet, the "broken" scrolls" have value in and of themselves. They teach history and meaning to us on a regular basis and to high school and other groups, Jews and non-Jews, who visit our synagogue and sanctuary during the course of the year.

Over the last several weeks, we have watched with anxiety the release of a few hostages at a time. They are all broken, certainly psychologically and emotionally.

Some have come back looking like survivors of the Shoah, so emaciated. Where is the outcry?

Some of the returnees have come back to broken families, not even knowing until their release that some of their family members had already been murdered on October 7. Where is the outcry?

 That one survivor thought he was returning to a wife and children, not knowing the fate that awaited him, was simply beyond such words as immoral and inhumane. Where is the outcry?

That a five-year-old and a two-year-old, taken when they were barely four years old and nine months old, came back in boxes whose keys purposely did not open the locks, along with the casket containing the body of their young mother - Where is the outcry?

 The entire last year and a half has been immoral and inhumane! Where is the outcry.

It is noteworthy that the Hebrew word ARON is used for both, Ark and coffin. A few days ago, three dead broken bodies, a mother and her two young children, were rested. Shiri Bibas was laid to rest snuggled by Ariel and Kfir. She now holds them tight to her in death, as she did in the final chapter of their lives.

As with October 7^th itself and its immediate aftermath, I heard from almost no one outside the Jewish community after a week ago Thursday. Dara Horn must be right. The world loves dead Jews. I heard only from Pastor David Larmour from Oshawa. He will be speaking with me here in shul Friday night March 7 and again in his Church Sunday morning March 23. He is a righteous and Zionist Christian pastor. He texted the following to me a week ago Thursday:

"Hi Howard. Thinking of you and the Jewish community today. So sad to hear of the recent unnecessary and sickening deaths of Shiri Bibas and her sons, Kfir and Ariel, and of Oded Lifshitz. Praying for you and your community, Howard"

I would humbly suggest that every Jew in the world is broken in one way or another since October 7, 2023. We can only be made whole by embracing each other side by side just as the two sets of tablets laid side by side in the ancient Ark of the Tabernacle. 

May the day come when our brokenness can truly be healed and transformed into a renewed wholeness.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Howard Morrison