Shortly after 9/11, Menachem Creditor, a Conservative rabbi and activist in the Jewish community, was distraught about the state of the world. He had a new born daughter at home and wanted to assure her that there was a lot more good in the world than bad.
He found a verse from Psalm 89 that spoke to him, “Olam Chesed Yibaneh,” loosely translated “forever, is chesed (love) built.” For him, building a world of love would require all of us including God. The song he created from these words has become the standard at any rally where Jews are present. And, the message is clear, if we build a world of love, then God will also build a world from love.
There is a mantra in this week’s Torah portion, Shoftim, which is about a partnership between us and our creator. “Tzedek, tzedek, tirdof,” “justice, justice, should you pursue,” the Torah states. The implication being that if we vigorously pursue justice, God will as well. Justice and love are in a sense intertwined. When the world is fair, and people are treated with respect and dignity, than love can abound.
But, to ensure a just world and that there is peace in the world requires all of us to be part of the process of making it so. As the opening verse of a reading by Jack Reimer in the back of the Kol Haneshamah: Shabbat V’Chagim prayer book (page 772) tells us, “we cannot merely pray to God to end war;/For the world was made in such a way/That we must find our own path of peace/within ourselves and with our neighbor.”
May it be so, may it be so…
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Alex