This past Tuesday morning, I returned to Los Angeles from our congregational mission to Israel. On the drive home from the airport, I read about the weather forecast predicting strong winds and the fire advisory accompanying it. Driving through the Sepulveda pass, my mind went back to the Skirball fire of 2017.
From December, 2017. Rabbis Ed Feinstein, Ken Chasen, Yoshi Zweiback and Noah Farkas.
As horrifying as that memory is—especially the moment we decided to evacuate all of our Torah scrolls from our campus—it pales in comparison to what we have witnessed these past few days. The Skirball fire destroyed 422 acres and six structures. The Palisades and Eaton fires together have destroyed over 35,000 acres. At this point, we still have no idea how many homes and businesses have been lost. Homes of some of our own congregants have gone up in flames. Many members of our congregation have been forced to evacuate. Every one of us living in Southern California has experienced the anxiety and trauma of not knowing from hour to hour, minute to minute, or even second to second, what might befall us or those we love.
Palisades fire, January, 2025.
At moments like this I find strength and comfort in our tradition, in our history, and in our community.
Psalm 92, which we will recite tonight at Shabbat services, teaches:
“The righteous shall flourish like a date palm tree–צַדִּיק כַּתָּמָר יִפְרָח.” (Psalm 92:13).
Why a date palm in particular? I saw several of the reasons firsthand last week when I visited the Dead Sea where dozens of date palm orchards were flourishing in the dry, unforgiving climate.
Date palms are tough. They are resilient. They grow tall and provide shade across great distances. They are also flexible; when the wind howls, the date palm sways from side to side—it bends but it does not break. All the while producing fruit which is nourishing and sweet.
At moments like these, when the world is burning all around us, we must embody the qualities of the date palm: strength, resilience, and flexibility. And to one another—and to ourselves as well—let us be sweet. Let us be especially kind. We don’t know what those around us are grappling with, so let us treat friends, family, and strangers alike with grace, compassion, and love.
Our past teaches us how to navigate difficult, uncertain situations like the one we find ourselves in. Countless times in our history, we have had to rebuild after moments of destruction. This past Sunday, I visited Kibbutz Be’eri, the hardest hit of the communities in the Western Negev on October 7, 2023. I spent a few hours with Yarden Tzemach. He showed me the place he had described when he visited Los Angeles last month—the place where his brother, Shachar, died bravely while defending the infirmary from Hamas terrorists. Fifteen months later, Yarden is back at the kibbutz, working on plans to rebuild. Time and time again, in the face of unimaginable loss, we pick ourselves up and we begin again—together.
Kibbutz Be’eri, January, 2025
Together, we find strength in our community. Together, we find strength in our tradition. Together, we find strength in our shared past.
As we prepare to welcome Shabbat, I want to invite each of you to take a few moments to reflect upon these powerful gifts and the many ways in which we can find strength and hope in even the darkest of times.
If it is safe to do so, please join us tonight for services at 6:15 p.m., in person or online. It will soothe your soul and lift your spirits. Tomorrow morning at 8:45 a.m., Rabbi Woznica and I will teach Torah at Spirit of Shabbat. You can join us in person or online for this as well. Immediately following Torah study, we will have our Mountaintop Morning Shabbat service. Come be in community. Your presence will bring strength and resilience to others.
In the days, weeks, and months to come, we will continue to share ways in which you can help our Jewish and Los Angeles community heal and rebuild. It will take time. It will take great effort and resources. And it will require the participation and effort of each one of us.
This is how we respond. This is how we strengthen one another. This is how we flourish like date palms.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Yoshi