Baruch Dayan Ha'Emet
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February 21, 2025 // 23 Sh’vat, 5785
We join our community in mourning the loss of Shiri, Kfir, and Ariel Bibas. From Rabbi Shira:
Baruch Dayan Ha’Emet.
Half the posts I'm seeing on social media these last few days begin with the phrase, “There are no words.” Then the person goes on to try to use words to make meaning, even as words feel so ridiculous. What else can we do? Silence feels like surrender.
For months, we prayed for Shiri, Kfir, and Ariel Bibas, even as we were told they had most likely already been murdered. But we Jews are a people trained on hope; we refuse to despair, even to our detriment. And now, the grief of uncertainty has become the compounded grief of knowing.
Too many Israeli and Palestinian families have had to bury their children. Too many parents have woken up to an empty crib, too many spouses to an empty side of the bed. Every innocent life lost is a world shattered.
May the Bibas family, the Lifshitz family, and all those in grief find comfort. May we refuse to go numb. And may we never stop working for a day when no mother has to cradle her child in fear.
הַמָּקוֹם יְנַחֵם אוֹתָם. May the One who comforts the brokenhearted hold us all close today.
Listen
We’re back for our FIFTH season! This week, a listener asks the question: “Should you give your kid a Jewy name?” Is this an unspoken commandment? Is it kosher to just go with Jack or Jane? Tell us what you think in the comments and share your own name story. And tune in for our Rabbi Shira and Hanna’s thoughts!
Gotta question of your own? Submit it to chutzpod@gmail.com.
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Before we go
Need a Shabbat book rec? Shira has been reading The Best American Science and Nature Writing of 2024. She recommends it as a way to see how we are all connected, even from vastly different life experiences. She loves to read science writing because it helps her write better sermons when she understands the interconnectedness of our world.
Don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comments, listen, send us your questions, and donate.
Shabbat Shalom Chutzsquad!
beautiful drawing!
Baruch Dayan Ha’Emet