During these times of uncertainty, Texas Impact board members are sharing their messages of hope with the wider Texas Impact community. Interfaith Action of Central Texas (iACT) shared this message from Austin religious leader (and Texas Impact board member), Rabbi Neil Blumofe of Congregation Agudas Achim. If you feel inspired, you can share your message of hope with iACT. To find out more about the coronavirus and what you can do to help please visit our Coronavirus page here.
“Behold, I will send to you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and awesome day of God. And the hearts of the parents shall turn to their children, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their parents.”
–Malachi 3:23-24a
To me, this is one of the most inspirational texts of the Hebrew Bible – a clarion call for hope as paradigms shift and as established ways of doing things melt away. How will we be sustained in a new, uncharted age? This Shabbat, Jews all over the world include these verses in worship as we recognize Shabbat Hagadol – the Great Shabbat — that always precedes the Festival of Passover.
And in preparation for Passover, we rise above all that blocks our way – the chametz, that which occludes our vision of what is most important in life. We eat unleavened bread, matzah, for the length of the Festival, transforming the bread of affliction into the bread of freedom by our shared experience. As families share space and time together, we realize too that the greatest blessing – and perhaps our deepest meaning — can be derived from the relationships that we have with those who are closest to us. This is a time for us to renew again the connections that may have gone stale – now is our time to revivify the absolute bonds that bring us together – and we know that as we walk together we will sustain in these – dropping deeply into the gratitude that we have for getting to share our lives together. This awareness will bring joy and resilience to any time that we may yet encounter.
–Rabbi Neil Blumofe, Congregation Agudas Achim, Austin, Texas