Tuesday saw our president re-elected after a long and expensive slog-fest. Passions and opinions have run sky-high. “Red” and “Blue,” it felt like we were living in parallel universes, speaking entirely different languages. Friends and family with different politics found they couldn’t speak with one another civilly. One person’s social policy stance felt like a personal attack on another. Those with wealth and power sought to manipulate the rest of us. Thank goodness that’s over, at least for a while.
In this week’s portion, Chayei
Sarah, Isaac and Ishmael, both sons of Abraham, reunite to bury their
father. You may recall that they had
played together as boys, but then their lives diverged: Ishmael banished (twice!) to the desert,
Isaac offered up as sacrifice by his father.
The Torah never recounts their speaking to each other after boyhood; in
fact, they go to live in different places.
But they reunite when time and task demands it.
It mustn’t have been easy for the brothers. What emotions did they have upon seeing each
other? Jealousy? Bitterness?
Anger? Guilt? Regret?
What memories were stirred up in the burial cave? And yet, to honor their father, the man who
had exiled and brutalized them, they were able to look each other in the eyes and
do what had to be done.I pray that our country can do the same. I pray that we can put partisan passion and brutal bickering behind us, and get on with the sacred task of building a more perfect union.
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