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Friend,
Last week was Shavuot, which marks the end of our seven-week
journey from Egypt to Mount Sinai. It celebrates the moment we
received the Torah, as well as the shared commitments to freedom that
got us there.
Shavuot is a time for being a community at the edges of our
comfort. Tikkun Leil Shavuot is an all-night gathering for
learning — a time to acknowledge what has come before us, immerse
ourselves in possibility, and stretch into new visions of building
freedom together beyond our fears.
This year for Shavuot, we launched a new video series — Your
Safety Is My Safety. Between now and the High Holy Days,
we’re going to be sharing videos that invite us into reflection about
what safety can look like if we commit to community and relationship.
We
started with videos from my Bend the Arc colleagues Enzi Tanner and
Rachèl Laforest. I encourage you to watch and share in your
communities.
On Shavuot, I was especially drawn to our reading of the story of
Ruth. Ruth is a Moabite woman who, after losing her Israelite husband,
decides to stay in care-based relationship with her mother-in-law
Naomi instead of returning to her family and people of origin. In this
choice, Ruth makes a deep commitment to Naomi and her community.
“Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people, and your G!d, my G!d.” (Ruth
1:16)
Choosing Naomi is a move into unknown territory. It is a
transgression of familial practice that puts Ruth at risk. She has to
believe that the divine who took the people from a narrow place is the
same divine that can keep her safe. She has to trust that her safety
can come from her choice and commitment to this new community.
Our video series is an invitation to choose, like Ruth, to be
together in a commitment like hers:
“Where you
move forward, I will move forward; Your community will be my
community; your safety is my safety; your future, my
future.”
May this Torah of chesed (loving kindness) and these
videos ground us in a vision of what can be possible when we choose
one another.
Both episodes are on our
website and will be shared on our social feeds as well. You can
watch the first episode on Instagram here.
L’shalom,
Graie Hagans
Senior Advisor, Bend the Arc
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