Most of you know that my mother is from the Deep South. I was born in North Carolina to a Southern woman married to a New Yorker. Eventually, we moved to Connecticut. There was always a gentle undercurrent of friendly rivalry between the North and the South. Separate from visiting my grandparents though, I never gave any serious thought to southern Jewish history. At an early age, I visited the other Touro synagogue in Rhode Island, saw the famed George Washington letter to the Hebrews with my own eyes and grew up with a bit of a northern bias concerning Jewish heritage. It was not until many years later that my formal studies appropriately broadened my horizons. I learned of the historic Colonial Jewish communities of the South; Charleston,Savannah and Richmond to name a few.
Manette and I moved to Mobile, only to learn that the Temple was one of the oldest Reform congregations in the USA and the Shul, originated in 1894, has maintained a cemetery, Chevra Kadisha and kosher kitchen for well over a century! Living in Mobile, I have come to understand the importance the Shul plays as a locus of identity for its members. I have learned from you of the storied and multi-layered Jewish history of our community. The South has shaped the life of its Jews even as Jewish life has shaped the life of the South by its many generations, many families, many public servants, communal institutions and devotion to communal, philanthropic and civic affairs. In many ways Jewish people and Southern life are interwoven. We could say that Jewish businesswomen, mayors, legislators, educators, volunteers, professors, merchants, performers, writers, realtors, entrepreneurs, attorneys, judges, parents, children, businessmen, physicians and more have all made Mobile what it is even as Mobile has made us what we are.
In this week’s Parsha, Lech Lecha, our eyes widen with wonder over the beginning of Jewish history. God commands Abram to “Go forth from your land, your birthplace and your father’s household to the land which I will show you.”(Genesis 12:1). Abram is commanded to make his own way in the world as each of us must. To be an adult, we must set out on our own path and differentiate ourselves from our parents. Strikingly, though, God does not nickname or identify the destination which will be suitable for Abram. Abram does that himself as we see from the simple description in the Torah - “ And Abram journeyed towards the South” (Gen.12:9). All of Jewish history, indeed all of Jewish experience, emerge from this migration. Without his leaving Syria and traveling towards the South, we Jewish descendants of Abram would never have collectively heard God’s voice, been in Egypt, stood at Sinai, built two temples, introduced God to the world or originated spoken worship. Thank God for the South! May we all continue upon Abram’s path; each hearing God’s voice personally and moving forward as a result.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Steve Silberman
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