Home Shalom is dedicated to raising awareness of domestic abuse in the Jewish community, encouraging every synagogue and Jewish institution to become a safe sanctuary and providing tools for teens to master the skills of creating healthy relationships. Home Shalom is a program of The Advot Project.
“Bringing healing between two people is one of the greatest virtues of all.” Rabbi Akivah – Talmud Taanit 22a
The story is told in the Talmud of Rabbi Baroka walking in the market place and coming upon Elijah the Prophet. Rabbi Baroka asked Elijah, “Who is the most important person in this marketplace?” He expected the answer to be one of the wealthy individuals who donated the most money to the synagogue or gave the most to support the local community. Instead, Elijah pointed to two individuals who were dressed like clowns and said, “They are the most important people here.” When Rabbi Baroka asked why, Elijah replied, “Whenever they see someone upset or angry, or two people arguing, they use their clown faces and humor to bring joy, to make them laugh and bring peace between any two who are fighting.” That is why Rabbi Baroka is quoted as saying, “A clown may be first in the Kingdom of Heaven if he has helped lessen the sadness of human suffering,” and Rabbi Akiva then added, “Bringing healing between two people is one of the greatest virtues of all.”
In this time of great upheaval and strife across the entire world. People are marching, protesting injustice, standing up for equality and justice and demanding that we in our society take responsibility for the injustices of the past and find reconciliation and resolution of those injustices for the future. Indeed, we need healing now more than ever. Now is the time for each of us to reach out to each other with a kind word, a gesture of compassion, a loving embrace, an outpouring of understanding and a cry of empathy for all the lives that have been disregarded, disempowered, degraded or abused whether because of race or religion, gender or country of origin. Elie Wiesel once challenged us all saying, “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor never the tormented.” This is our time to stand together as one nation, one community across all races and religions to declare that every human being is created in the divine image and deserving of respect, deserving of compassion deserving of love.
If you are in need of support, please use any of the numbers below to call out for help and know that you are not alone.
Naomi Ackerman, The Advot Project and Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben, Home Shalom.
