The rich content of their memory will only be a blessing if we devote ourselves to perpetuating it. Toward that end, we are creating a fellowship fund in the names of Matt and Sara that will make it easier for other students to afford the escalating costs of their rabbinic education, especially the expense of a full year of study in Israel. I hope you will be moved to join us in this effort. As so often, our weekly parasha offers a relevant word of wisdom. Meaning is always a fragile achievement.
Tragedy erodes our confidence in the road taken.
In this week's Torah portion, we return briefly and searingly to the Israelites at Mount Sinai. His prolonged absence atop the mountain unsettles them. Forgotten are his heroic deeds and lofty teachings. The people prevail on Aaron to make for them a more durable intermediary, a more tangible symbol of God's presence in the camp. When Moses descends, the sight of the Golden Calf and the lewd levity of the masses prompts him to smash the tablets in fury and have some 3000 of the revelers killed by the Levites.