Shabbat Greetings
This Shabbat presents us with an unusual moment in the Jewish calendar. There is no regular Torah portion this week because, in much of the Jewish world, Shavuot is still being observed on this day. Even though we in the Reform movement celebrated Shavuot for one day and have technically completed the festival, the calendar itself reminds us that Jewish time is larger than any one community’s practice. As we have chosen to stay in sync with our Jewish brothers and sisters outside of Israel, we are not following the custom in Israel to move ahead with the next portion (we will be back in sync on July 10). We remain connected to Jews everywhere, across denominations, across continents, and across generations who are still standing spiritually at Sinai.
And perhaps that is fitting this year, because memory itself is one of the deepest themes that binds Shavuot and Memorial Day together. On Shavuot we remember revelation. We remember that our freedom from Egypt was not enough on its own. Freedom without purpose can become chaos; liberation without responsibility can become emptiness. At Sinai, our ancestors received Torah, not merely laws, but a sacred vision of how a free people must live: with justice, compassion, restraint, dignity, and a shared responsibility defined as our sacred covenant with God.
However, Torah insists that memory is never passive. Again and again, the Torah commands us: “Remember.” Remember that you were strangers in Egypt. Remember the journey. Remember the covenant. Remember those who came before you. Jewish memory is not nostalgia; it is obligation. And that brings us to Memorial Day.
On Monday, our nation pauses to remember the men and women who gave their lives in military service so that others might live in freedom and security. Regardless of politics or ideology, Memorial Day calls us into sacred remembrance. We honor courage. We honor sacrifice. We acknowledge a painful truth: the freedoms we enjoy are not free.
As Jews, that message resonates deeply. Throughout history, Jews have known what it means to live without safety, without protection, without freedom of conscience. We know the fragility of liberty because we know the consequences when it disappears. To live openly as Jews, to gather in synagogues without fear, to teach Torah publicly, to raise our children in freedom; all of these are blessings sustained by generations willing to defend democratic ideals and human dignity, often at tremendous cost.
There is also a profound spiritual connection between Sinai and Memorial Day. At Sinai, the Israelites entered into covenant not as isolated individuals but as a people responsible for one another. The Talmud teaches: Kol Yisrael arevim zeh bazeh (all Israel is responsible for one another- Shavuot 39a). Memorial Day reminds us that societies endure only when people are willing to place the wellbeing of others alongside their own.
The absence of a Torah portion this Shabbat may therefore feel less like a gap and more like an invitation, a pause in the regular cycle to reflect more deeply on what Torah ultimately asks of us. Revelation is not only about hearing God’s voice; it is about deciding what we owe one another because we have heard it. So this Shabbat, suspended between Sinai and Memorial Day, we remember.
We remember our ancestors who stood at the mountain trembling with possibility. And, we remember those who served and sacrificed so others could live in freedom. And, we remember that memory itself is holy only when it shapes the way we live.
May the memories of all who gave their lives in service to this country be for a blessing. May their sacrifice inspire us to build a society worthy of that sacrifice; a society rooted in justice, compassion, humility, and peace. (adapted from Israel’s blessing on Yom Hazikaron (Israel’s Memorial Day))
SHABBAT SHALOM