It’s been a devastating week. I feel like I’m still trying to shake myself out of the shock of what happened and I know others feel similarly. The more that’s reported from the deepening investigations into the tragic collapse of the Key Bridge, the more we feel the ripples of devastation and uncertainty.
A ripple: The fear, in those first few hours on Tuesday morning, that the ship’s impact was not simply a horrible accident, but an act of terror. A ripple: Quick action by the harbor pilots and ship’s crew helped prevent a much greater tragedy and substantially more loss of life. A small point of light and gratitude in an otherwise dark story. A ripple: We’re beginning to learn more about the lives of those who are still missing and those whose bodies have been recovered, about their families and their personal stories. A ripple: The closure of the port will disrupt our supply chain, impacting both the economy and individual lives. A ripple: The bridge will take years to rebuild, making traffic into and around Baltimore far more congested for the foreseeable future. These ripples form concentric circles radiating from the initial impact, the bridge’s collapse and the disappearance of the workers who were still on the road. We try to contend with each ripple as we meet it, aware that more ripples will continue to form. As you know, I try to use this space as a lens through which to refract some Torah. This Shabbat, we read the third of four special passages that guide us toward Pesaḥ - Parashat Parah (Numbers 19:1-22). On a straightforward level, this section of text is focused on technical ritual - the ritual of the red heifer whose ashes purify one from contact with the dead. More deeply, however, this passage speaks to the ripples that radiate out from being close to someone who dies. Put simply, one who comes in contact with a dead body, either by touch or by proximity, becomes ritually impure. The way to resolve this impurity is to be sprinkled with a mixture made from fresh water and the ashes of the red heifer, which are prepared with great attention to detail. An often-noted irony of this procedure is that every person involved in it becomes ritually impure by virtue of their actions. The one who slaughters the heifer, the one who sprinkles the mixture on a person seeking re-purification - and everyone in between - they all acquire a form of ritual impurity as the result of their involvement. The ripples of ritual impurity touch them, changing their status, and making it so that they too need to be purified. This idea feels especially powerful this week, as the ongoing aftermath of the bridge collapse and the deaths of the road workers continues to impact us. The ripples of this tragedy touch us, and impart to us a measure of fear, frustration, uncertainty, and sorrow. It would be so easy to have a magic potion to help alleviate the heaviness that comes from these ripples. But the ritual of the red heifer is no longer part of our practice. In the millennia that have passed since these kinds of rituals were part of our tradition, we have learned to find different and perhaps deeper ways to walk through difficult times and find a path of healing. So instead of the red heifer’s water of purification, we sit in this moment and offer our prayers, our acts of ḥesed, and our presence. May the bereaved find comfort, may our city find renewed strength, and may we all have a Shabbat shalom.
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Shabbat MessageA message from Rabbi Jacobs to the Congregation each Shabbat. Archives
January 2025
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