Rabbi Howard Morrison

Dear Congregational Family,

In Judaism, we have blessings which affirm our belief in God for all occasions. When we hear the ultimate bad news, we recite, "Baruch Dayan Emet - Praised be the true Judge." When we hear especially good news which impacts on us and others around us, we recite, "Baruch Tov U'Maitiv - Praised be God who is good and beneficent."

At face value, these blessings make logical sense. The foundation for the blessing of goodness and beneficence, however, is intriguing. In the aftermath of Lag Ba'Omer, we know that according to legend, 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva died during the Sefira season. That legend tells only part of a disturbing story. Rabbi Akiva and his followers supported the famed Bar Kochba revolt against the Romans. The revolt failed terribly. The final defeat at the hand of the Romans took place at the fortress of Beitar in 135CE.

Despite the tragedy, a miracle happened in that all the deceased were buried properly and with dignity. Thus, while grieving over the losses, our ancestors composed the blessing of "Tov U'Maitiv," thanking God that our slain were buried in accordance with Jewish values.

An extension of this short blessing expanded into an additional fourth blessing in Birkat Ha'Mazon, the blessings after meals, in which we express gratitude to God for the past, present, and future.

As we today grieve and learn to live amidst covid-19, I pray that we can find silver linings of God's goodness and beneficence, even as our ancestors were able to do so almost two thousand years ago.

Rabbi Howard Morrison