May 22, 2020
Dear Friends,
Yesterday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer asked President Trump to lower the flag to half-mast when the United States soon reaches the tragic landmark of 100,000 who have died of COVID-19.
A lowered flag can’t possibly capture the pain of the deaths of more than 100,000 people, or contain our anger at the incompetence and indifference of an administration that failed to protect us from this devastation, or at the racial and economic inequities that this pandemic has exposed.
And yet, the lowered flag remains a powerful symbol of what we have lost.
This week’s Torah portion finds the Israelites standing under their own flags — a special flag for each tribe. According to midrash, the Israelites see 22,000 angels appear with God at Mount Sinai, festooned with a variety of banners, and decide that they, too, want their own flags — perhaps as a sign that our own connection to God is no less than that of the angels.
The Midrash riffs on a verse from Psalms: “We will rejoice in your salvation, arrayed by standards in the name of our God” (Psalms 20:6), and, through a close grammatical reading, makes the radical suggestion that God is redeemed along with the people, and that the divine name is intertwined with ours such that raising our own flags also glorifies the divine. (Bamidbar Rabbah 2:2)
As more and more of our neighbors, friends, family, and community members die from disease and government neglect, we might imagine God’s flag also flying a bit lower every day.
But we can also help bring about our own redemption and that of God by working to protect the lives and dignity of every single person.
This past Tuesday, many T’ruah community members like you joined us in a virtual action in support of Amazon workers who are risking their lives to deliver toys, books, and groceries. We heard from Sasha Hammad of the Athena for All Coalition about Amazon’s retaliation against workers who try to organize, and called our governors to demand better protections for these workers.
Did you miss this action? Register here for this coming Tuesday’s action.
And yesterday, we heard from New York Attorney General Letitia James, about how racist systems lead to a disproportionate number of COVID-19 deaths among people of color. If you missed this conversation, you can watch a recording here.
As the new Israeli government, sworn in this week, threatens to begin annexing parts of the West Bank as early as this summer, we are preparing to mobilize our more than 2,000 rabbis and cantors, along with all members of the T’ruah community, to bring a moral voice to opposing this move, which would codify inequality and create a permanent occupation.
In the midst of this pain, and in the midst of our hard work fighting for human rights, we are also pausing to celebrate our leaders. On Monday evening, June 1, we will come together virtually for T’ruah’s 18th anniversary (chai) gala. We are excited to join T’ruah community members from across the country in celebrating Rabbi Aaron Brusso, Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster, Maharat Rori Picker Neiss, Rabbi Ellen Lippmann, Moses Silverman, and Randi Weingarten. You can learn more about the event and the honorees and register here.
God, too, has a flag, say the ancient rabbis. The Midrash turns to the Song of Songs, the love poetry traditionally read as an allegory of the love between God and the Jewish people. “He has brought me to the banquet house; and his banner of love was over me.” (2:4) God’s banner, per Midrash, is love. It’s a banner draped over each and every one of us, and a flag that insists that every one of us is an irreplaceable creation in the divine image. Today, this flag is lowered in mourning. Together, we will raise it as we work toward redemption.
Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Jill Jacobs
Executive Director
