Rabbi Howard Morrison

The weekly Torah portion is always relevant to the issues of the day. Take yesterday's portion of Vayera.

God tests and even informs Abraham about the evil in Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham is tested. Will he speak out for the innocent? Will he speak out for people he does not know? the stranger? The righteous?

Abraham passes the test, becomes the father of our people, and a moral exemplar, because he speaks out against injustice wherever it occurs.

This is the Jewish way. In being a light unto the nations, Israel and the Jewish people speak out and act. How often has Israel sent its trained personnel to other countries during a time of peril? How often has Israel treated the ill and wounded from enemies of neighboring nations?

Tragically and sadly, the shoe is not worn on the other foot. When the Jewish people suffered in the Shoah and lost 6 million of its own, the world was largely silent. 

On October 7 and its aftermath unto today, the world has largely been silent.

A mayor Chow here and a new mayor-elect named Mamdani in New York city are completely silent on the pain of our people and even twist truth to falsehood.

Where are the other faiths that claim they are children of Abraham? With few but noticeable  exceptions, 87 years after Kristallnacht and 2 years after October  7, the silence and false propaganda are glaring.

We the Jewish people, the nation of Israel, will continue to emulate Abraham our forefather. We will speak out and act for our particular need and for the universal need. 

As we learn in Pirkei Avot, "If I am not for me, who is for me? If I am only for me, what am I?

Chazak  Ve'Ematz - be strong and have courage.

Am Yisrael Chai!