This message was sent via email to members on July 6, 2020

These things are difficult and painful: not being able to go safely to see our children and grandchildren in San Francisco and Boston; not being able to host friends for dinner; missing Services in the synagogue with flesh and blood community; not being able to visit family and friends in retirement homes and in

hospitals.

What we are missing is rooted in the sacred soil of family and community which nurtures us. There is, however, a holier soil which is foundational to Judaism - saving and preserving life. It is our commitment to life's sanctity which makes possible the well-being of family and community.

Esau was really far from death's door. Others in the camp could have given him food had he asked. Esau's impatience for gratification led him to sell his birthright - leadership of the family and the Covenant - for a mess of beans.Contrary to Esau's behavior, I would argue that when one's life seems to be threatened, that is exactly and especially the time to uphold one's core values.Ultimately it is those cherished values which sustain us.

Jeremiah charged that the people of his day "have walked after things of naught and are become naught" (2:5). Freedom from masks, going to bars and gyms are things of naught at this time when our values must infuse our lives with discipline. By upholding life-preserving values and behaviors we become worth preserving.