In life, as in literature, it can feel like we are involved in an epic battle between good and evil, right and wrong, yetzer tov and yetzer hara. In between these two extremes, of course, exists the quotidian: getting our kids off to school, caring for a loved one, paying bills, and filing our taxes… But the moments that shape us most, in my experience, are the ones that are the most joyful or the most painful. While every day existence requires us to live somewhere in the middle, it can be hard to tune out the ecstatic and the traumatic.
Bo, our Torah portion this week, is nothing if not an epic series of highs and lows, a roller coaster of demands, plagues, concessions and retractions, and—ultimately—the passing over of the Israelite families as the Angel of Death swoops through Egypt, taking the first-born son of every family. As we feel the elation of liberation of those who have been held captive for so long, we are asked to balance this with the knowledge that children of Egyptian families, even the children of other slaves among them, would pay with their lives for the hard heart of their pharaoh, through no fault of their own.
It would be impossible not to see in our current situation a reflection of this ancient story, the Passover that we are asked to remember every year, and the injunction that we are given to treat the stranger in our midst as family, since we were once slaves in Egypt. As some hostages are liberated from Gaza, leading to elation and celebration, we await the news of which of the hostages were not passed over when death swept through. Maybe you have scoured the news over the past 14+ months, as I have, desperate to know if the Bibas family, especially babies Ariel and Kfir, are still alive and have a hope of returning to the relative safety of Israel.
This morning, the Times of Israel reported that their father, Yarden Bibas, is slated to be freed by Hamas this Saturday. Speculation runs rampant about the fate of Shiri, his wife, and their two small sons. And so we breathe. And we hope.
As we go about our daily lives, may we see in the face of everyone we meet a soul in need of love, in need of compassion, in need of freedom. And I will continue to pray fervently, along with millions of others, for the liberation of the remaining hostages from Gaza. I will pray also that death will no more visit the innocent, those whose hearts have not been completely hardened, those who simply want to live in peace. And I will continue to cherish all of you, as you go about the peaks and valleys of your daily lives, in the hopes that you will all know peace, safety, freedom, and love.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rebecca Abbate
