The beginning of this week’s Torah portion tells of the end of Sarah’s life. We are told that Sarah dies at the age of 127. She dies, after a full life, in Hebron. Abraham will set out to find an appropriate burial site for her. Meeting with the Hittites, he insists that he buy a plot of land from them, even as they attempt to give him the land for no cost. Sarah will be laid to rest in the cave of Machpelah, a sacred site our people have returned to throughout the generations. Nearly all of our earliest leaders will be buried there in time, including Abraham, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob and Leah.

Of course land remains a loaded issue in and around Israel today. Who owns what? Who has a stake where? What should happen to the West Bank or to Gaza? These are questions that are timeless and the events that got us here are complex and contentious. Recent elections will have an effect on what becomes of such places. The future seems as hazy as ever. I pray for leaders of good conscience, big-heartedness and vision to lead us forward.

While I am deeply concerned about land in Israel and would-be Palestine, I am equally as concerned about the ways Jews are being treated around the world. Indeed, while controversy exists on the land itself, contention exists near and far precisely because of the land.

I need not tell you that there is a massive, ever-growing mob that has set out to undo Jewish identity, Jewish thinking and Jewish belonging. In protests and gatherings, the shouting ranges from hateful to unhinged. Rocks fly through the windows of Jewish delis. Jewish cemeteries are desecrated. Jewish kids are tormented and bullied. These groups are not interested, it would appear, in Palestinian statehood as much as they are interested in terrifying Jews. It is not about dialogue or diplomacy. It is not about engagement or learning, but a forthright and unapologetic antisemitism that blames every Jew for all suffering in Gaza (and beyond). TikTok activists have decided that Jews are the problem, applying zero nuance or historical understanding. Anti-Zionism and antisemitism cannot be picked apart as a key, fundamental tenet of Judaism is our eternal connection to the land of Israel, dating all the way back to the time of Abraham and Sarah.

This coming weekend, you may have seen, there will be a rally against Jewish-owned stores in Philadelphia. The so-called “Boycott Ride” will take protestors on a tour of iconic Jewish sites in our beloved city. Can you imagine? Can you imagine this taking place on the same weekend we mark Kristallnacht, that horrific night of broken glass that set in motion the Holocaust itself? Same weekend. Same goals. Different setting. Where once German stores were looted and burned, Philadelphia restaurants and shops will be terrorized.

What are we to do? Where do we turn? I believe we turn where Jews have always turned: community, prayer, tzedakah, tikkun olam… We go to those places that have refilled Jewish souls since the beginning of time. We go to music, ritual, the food and familiar faces. Join us this Friday night at services for Shabbat Groove and let your spirit be nourished. Join us for Torah study, kitchen programming, youth group outings, or our monthly HaMotzi meal.

As Abraham and Sarah tried every day, with the time they had, to build up a world of greater peace and justice, so can we. Amen.