God, the Power that Makes for Salvation

 Shabbat Shalom from Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow

 

December 31, 2021-January 1, 2022 / 28 Tevet 5782

Shabbat Va’eira

Torah: Exodus 6:2 - 9:35

Haftarah: Ezekiel 28:25 - 29:21

 

“God, the Power that Makes for Salvation”

 

Dear Friends,

 

How do we find the strength to live life at our best?  In this week’s Torah portion, God sent Moses to Egypt to free the Children of Israel from slavery. In addition to convincing Pharaoh to let them go, Moses needed to convince the Israelites to summon the courage to leave. To bolster Moses, God revealed the four-letter name of God when promising to redeem the people from bondage.  The story is telling us that knowing God’s name is proof of God’s existence and God’s ability to fulfill a promise.

 

Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan wrote, “God is the aspect of reality which elicits from us the best that is in us and enables us to bear the worst that can befall us.”  In knowing God’s name, Moses and the Children of Israel find that strength to challenge Pharaoh and seek liberation.  May we harness the same power as we confront injustice and evil in the world. God is the power that makes for salvation – for living a life of purpose and meaning.

 

As we enter the new year of 2022, with God’s help, let us seek to become the very best that each one of us can be.

 

Zay a Mentsch – Be a Good Person.

 

Shabbat Shalom,

 

Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow