Vayeitze 2014 – Waking Up – Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg

“Vayikatz Ya’akov mi-sh’nato,” “Jacob awoke from his dream and said, “Surely the Holy One was in this place, and I did not know it!”

Last week, I was driving through New Britain to visit our friend John DeNicola at the rehab facility where he is recuperating. “All Things Considered” and the GPS lady were competing for my attention. Only one mile to go.

And then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a woman’s body lying on the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. The body wasn’t moving – her head was hanging over the curb into the street.

I was shaken. The dialogue began in my head:
“I should stop and help.”
“But I came all this way to see John!”
“I don’t even know New Britain – I’m not from here!”
“But all you have to do is call 911.”
“But what if I have to perform CPR and I don’t remember how?”
No one else seemed to be stopping. So, I parked my car, and approached the woman. She was conscious and breathing, but dazed and unable to speak. I called for an ambulance, and waited. Finally, neighbors came over. Then her daughter- I learned it was probably an epileptic seizure. The ambulance finally arrived, and I left the scene, with plenty of time to see John. When I told John the story, he shared a saying with me, “The seer is the doer.”

“Vayikatz Ya’akov mi-sh’nato,” “Jacob awoke from his dream.”

Shaken, he said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the abode of God, and that is the gateway to heaven.”

According to Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, in Judaism,
. . . the material world is always potentially spiritual. For Judaism all things – including, especially, such apparently non-spiritual and grossly material things as garbage, sweat, dirt and bushes –are not impediments to but dimensions of spirituality. To paraphrase the Psalmist, “The whole world is full of God.” The business of religion is to keep that awesome truth ever before us.
Or, I would say, our business is to somehow stay awake to that awesome truth.

Most of the time, we are asleep. The GPS, the radio, my own interests, my fears and hesitations, my excuses crackle in my consciousness like static. It is not simple to hone in and see what we really need to see – to wake up to our holy responsibilities in this confusing, messy world.
Kushner tells the story of a friend who was in therapy.

His doctor’s office was across the street from a. . . psychiatric hospital. One day as he had regularly done for a few years, the friend walked down the street to his car in front of the hospital. Suddenly he heard a blood chilling scream from the top floor that seemed to sound the deepest pain a soul could possibly feel. This unforgettable noise etched itself into his soul. The following day back on the couch he told his doctor of the scream from the top floor. To his astonishment his therapist was surprised that he should mention it at all.
“You mean you just now heard it?” asked the doctor. “After all these years? On the top floor across the street, that’s where they put all the screamers.” And from that day on my friend said he was able to hear the screams on the top floor almost every time. “The screams are all around us,” he later mused, “waiting for our ears and eyes and hands.”

It is our business to somehow stay awake.

Jacob is alone on the road, fleeing from home. His brother Esau is after him, to kill him, and Jacob is hoping to find sanctuary at his uncle’s place. But the sun has set, and he has to sleep on the road for the night. He has literally hit bottom, with nothing but a rock for a pillow. He has lied and deceived – tricking his blind father into giving him Esau’s blessing. Until now he hasn’t seen any other way to get what he wants – or what he thinks he deserves.

While he sleeps, he dreams of angels going up and down a staircase. God is standing there, with him. He wakes up, comforted, and with a new sense of responsibility –to serve a larger purpose with his life.

Sometimes it takes a dramatic event to stir us from our sleep so that we can see and hear, and do. Sometimes, we just have to get still. Sometimes, angels have to shake us!

The screams ARE all around us.

This past week it has been challenging to know how to respond the St. Louis Grand Jury’s decision not to indict the police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown. Apparently it is very rare for a Grand Jury make such a decision if the prosecutor is doing his job to pursue an indictment. Usually, a prosecutor is going to be passionate about pursuing an indictment. But cases involving police shootings tend to be the exceptions to this pattern.

As a white person living with privilege, I have been feeling ashamed, disappointed, and powerless to do anything to make things right. It’s kind of like hearing screams coming from the upper floor of a building that I can’t enter.

But an angel did shake me awake this week. My sister posted an invitation on Facebook to our old friends from York, PA, where we grew up, to reflect on how we feel about the Ferguson decision and to engage in a public conversation about race and racism.

It took courage for her to do this. We never broached the topic of racism while growing up. York was a segregated place – our school district was all-white, but we lived only blocks away from downtown, which was majority black and Latino – those kids had their own school district. Our local media and high school history classes never touched the story that there had been race riots in the late 1960’s.

My sister’s Facebook invitation elicited about 35 comments. It was refreshing to be part of a public and civil conversation about race that included a real diversity of viewpoints. Folks who had lived through the riots spoke about what it was like, and pointed to intentional changes in race relations that have taken place in York since those days. Some expressed dismay at the Ferguson decision. Others shared that they trust that the justice system did its job and we need to accept it. I wrote about how, in my own life, I have felt cut off from people of color, and how painful that is.
My sister – my angel – skillfully modeled how to see and to do.
We can start by paying attention to how it feels to hear those screams that are all around us, to see the suffering on our streets.
Then, we can talk with each other about what we see and hear.
And ultimately, we can find a way to act.

If you want to take concrete action regarding Ferguson, I have two suggestions for donations as well as a link for information on protests taking place in CT.

One is to give towards legal support for protestors in St. Louis who have been arrested. It is critical to listen through the media static which focuses on the incidences of protestor violence and to hear the message of the thousands of peaceful protestors who are calling for an end to police violence and an end to injustice.

You can also donate to the Ferguson Public library. As schools closed, store fronts boarded their windows and protesters filled the streets this week, the Ferguson Municipal Public Library remained open for business and organized activities for kids.
Our business is to somehow stay awake.

The screams are all around us.

The seer must be the doer.

And Jacob awoke from his dream. Shaken, he said, “Mah Nora ha-makom ha-zeh! How awesome is this place This is none other than the abode of God, and that is the gateway to heaven”
(sing “Ma Nora”)

Support the community of Ferguson
in the aftermath of the Grand Jury decision

1. Donate to the Legal Support Fund for Justice for Mike Brown
http://www.organizemo.org
Please donate to the legal support fund for those arrested in Ferguson protests standing for Justice for Mike Brown!

Since August 9, over 200 people have been arrested in Ferguson while protesting Mike Brown’s death and the epidemic of police violence facing Black and Brown communities in the United States.The Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE) legal support team aims to provide accessible, democratic and accountable legal support to a wide range of people participating in the struggle for social change.

We provide Know Your Rights trainings, staff a 24-hour legal support hotline, track arrestees so they don’t get lost in the system, fundraise for legal support costs, bond people out of jail, connect defendants with pro bono attorneys, coordinate with attorneys, organize volunteers & support people who go to trial.

To donate, go to https://secure.piryx.com/donate/mS25KFCe/MORE/mikebrown or send a check to MORE, 438 N. Skinker, St. Louis MO 63130.

Money donated to the MORE legal support fund goes towards bail, court fees, and ensuring that protestors have access to free legal representation. Any money that is returned to the fund will go towards supporting civil disobedience in St. Louis.
2. Donate to the Ferguson Municipal Public Library

As schools closed, store fronts boarded their windows and protesters filled the streets following the grand jury decision Monday that Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson would not be charged for Michael Brown’s death, the Ferguson Municipal Public Library remained open for business.

The note on its Facebook page pre-announcement read: “If the Ferguson-Florissant schools close, we will be hosting activities for the children. We will do everything in our power to serve our community. Stay strong and love each other.”

To donate online, go to: http://www.ferguson.lib.mo.us or send a check to Ferguson Municipal Public Library 35 North Florissant Road Ferguson, Missouri 63135
http://truah.org/issuescampaigns/mass-incarceration/policing.html