The Psalms writes, “I thought about my ways, and my feet brought me to your statutes.” The midrash expands that King David said each day, “I think about going to such and such a place, but my feet continue to bring me to synagogues and houses of study.” He recognized the lessons of Torah would carry him through his day. Our parsha begins with the instruction to toil in Torah and to walk in God’s ways. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that we read these words this week as schools conclude and we mark graduations of all levels. While we think of graduations as celebrating what was accomplished, in reality, they are called commencements, which are a beginning of what will be.
While we could speak about the cancelled university commencements and the college campus, I would prefer to focus on the commencements occurring within our sacred community. Children moving up from our Douglass Family ECC to Kindergarten at Sinai Akiba Academy. Religious school students celebrating b’nai mitzvah and exploring their lives as young Jewish adults. Seniors in our teen center discovering their role as Jewish college students.
Eem bchukotai teilechu, “If you walk in My statutes.” Over this year, we have witnessed Jews who were unaffiliated or peripherally attached to Jewish community return to their roots. Sanctuaries fill up each Shabbat as we look for soulful inspiration and depth within our own tradition and comfort with our community.
This parsha also concludes the book of Numbers, our journey through the wilderness. Our next stop hopes to be the Promised Land. Our Torah has always been there for us. We must ask, “Will we be there for our Torah?”
