The Redeeming Power of Torah
I studied at Hebrew University with Jon Polin, a real mensch. Since then, I’d get updates from time to time through mutual friends. I heard years ago that his young family made Aliyah and was living in Jerusalem. And now, since October 7th, when Hersh was “stolen” from the Nova Festival, I pray for them every day. Today is Day 286.
Jon’s wife, Rachel Goldberg, has become the most amplified voice among all the hostage families. She has spoken to Presidents, Prime Ministers, and even the Pope. She has addressed the United Nations, the world’s leading news outlets, and hundreds of thousands at rallies across the planet. Jon and Rachel are the very definition of strength, courage, and hope. Rachel commands: “Hope is mandatory.” I am confident that these character traits have been inherited by their son, Hersh. I pray they are enough to sustain him in captivity.
The Prophet Jeremiah, who was himself stolen from the land of Israel and held captive against his will in Egypt, prophesied in the 6th century BCE:
וְיֵשׁ־תִּקְוָ֥ה לְאַחֲרִיתֵ֖ךְ נְאֻם־ה’ וְשָׁ֥בוּ בָנִ֖ים לִגְבוּלָֽם׃
“There is hope for your future, declares the Eternal God.
Your children shall be restored to their own country.”
(Jeremiah 31:17)
One of the countless names for God is “Go-eil Yisrael. Redeemer of Israel.” Every weekday we offer up the words from our prayerbook, “Redeem us speedily for the sake of Your name, for You are a mighty Redeemer.” When prayers and military might and diplomacy and intelligence and advocacy and demonstrations are not enough, we turn to Torah. To write a Torah Scroll in honour of the living or the dead is considered to be one of the most powerful ways to lift up and call attention to their names. To write a Torah Scroll is the final of all 613 commandments of the Torah. Not a last-ditch effort, but a sacred act that requires patience, spiritual concentration, and great devotion.
The Goldberg-Polin family has commissioned a new Torah scroll to honour the Zechut, the merit, worth, and deservedness of the 120 hostages. Each one of the last 120 letters of the Sefer Torah was ceremonially dedicated to a name of one of the hostages. Just as the scroll was not complete without these 120 letters, we are not complete without them.
This week, the hostages’ Torah Scroll was carried lovingly under a chuppah through the streets of Jerusalem. I share these glimpses of the ceremony, so that you can add your prayers to theirs. https://fb.watch/tqAEx28e_i/ and https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=996954868590578
We are all in need of models of courage now. May we take courage from Jon and Rachel’s example. And may the hostages return home. Bimheira b’yameynu. Swiftly and in our day.
Shabbat Shalom.
