Dear Maimonides Community,
It is a special privilege to be invited to share some words of Torah with you this week. At a time when strife and divisiveness are rampant, the collegiality and collaborative spirit of our two schools is a source of immense strength. I pray that our commitment to achdut will shine as an example for the broader Jewish community.
This week’s parsha, Parshat Vayeshev, is replete with verses begging to be explored. Indeed, Rashi comments on one pasuk, מִקְרָא זֶה אוֹמֵר דָּרְשֵׁנִי, This verse says expound on me. The story of Yosef and his brothers is an evocative tale full of duplicitousness, failure, and rebirth.
It is also a story of an inconsolable father falsely learning that his child has been killed. The Torah says that יָּקֻמוּ כָל־בָּנָיו וְכָל־בְּנֹתָיו לְנַֽחֲמוֹ וַיְמָאן לְהִתְנַחֵם, And all his sons and all his daughters arose to console him, but he refused to be consoled.
Rashi explains his refusal to be comforted by saying אֵין אָדָם מְקַבֵּל תַּנְחוּמִין עַל הַחַי וְסָבוּר שֶׁמֵּת, A person will not accept comfort for the living that is supposedly dead. The Gur Arye offers a simple, though deeply resonant, elaboration: שהנחמה הוא בדבר שכלה – ודבר זה עדיין לא כלה, Comfort is for something that is settled — and this is still not settled. Yaakov could not be comforted for Yosef’s loss because the matter was unsettled. The mefarshim give different reasons why Yaakov did not consider the matter settled. Perhaps it was because he had an inkling that the whole story was untrue. Perhaps he couldn’t believe it until he buried his son. Whatever the reason, he refused to be comforted while there was work that could be done.
As Jewish hostages remain locked in Gaza, there is an obvious parallel. We, as a nation, cannot be comforted when there is still work to be done. This message, however, is also deeply personal. At SHAS and at Maimonides, our goal is to raise children who believe deeply in their ability to affect change. Every mitzvah is an opportunity for repair. Judaism’s ultimate belief is that any brokenness in this world is healable. We partner with G-d to do the healing.
The opposite of action is not inaction; it is comfort. When we are comforted and comfortable, we are complicit. When we know that there is work to be done, we act. The Israeli rap artist Subliminal sings: תן לי תקווה לקבל מה שאין את הכוח לשנות מה שכן, Give me the hope to realize what is not, and the strength to change what is.
Our students have faith. Our students have strength. And our students have the moral fortitude to refuse comfort when a matter is unsettled. That is the promise of a Torah education.
Shabbat shalom! | 
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