As I am writing this Jews all over the world are knee-deep in the Torah portion 'Noach' aka Noah. In 'Parashat Noach,' God instructs Noah to build an enormous ark because God is going to destroy the entire world.
We can imagine that Noah probably thought that building an ark out of Gopher wood (no one knows what Gopher wood is) was a crazy idea. Then on top of that, he had to build an ark and gather all the animals into it. Who wouldn’t think this was crazy? But when I read this text I see Noah as someone who acted on faith and faith alone.
Noah trusted God and knew he would be shown the way. No matter how crazy the idea was, Noah’s faith was so strong that he did as God commanded.
Faith is when you know in your heart and in your gut that you must do something; that you must move forward on an idea or go somewhere even if it does not seem logical and you don't know how things will turn out.
Now I know that many of us are uncomfortable with the word faith, so if you are one of those let’s call it that inner voice.
Faith is about the courage to live with uncertainty and to trust in your gut that you are on the right path. It's the courage to do something new, to take a risk, to begin a journey to a distant destination knowing that there will be hazards and bumps along the way. Faith is all of those things and it’s also knowing that God is with you along the way, giving you the strength to carry on.
In this week's Torah portion called 'Lech Lecha' (go forth), God instructs Avram to 'Lech Lecha,' to go forth and leave the comfort of his home, everything he trusts, everything he knows. Avram and Sarai leave their home on faith as God has instructed.
Avram and Sarai, in many ways, remind me of my parents, who grew up dirt poor in the segregated South. My dad grew up in rural Arkansas, and my mother in rural Missouri. My parents were part of that generation of young African-Americans who left the rural South, Jim Crow and poverty in search of better opportunities in the North. My mother and father decided to 'Lech Lecha,' to go forth, on faith, with very little money, believing in their hearts that this was the right path. And like Avram and Sarai, my parents left their families, their homes and everything they knew in hopes of a better future.
My parents met while working at a fast-food restaurant in St. Louis. Shortly before they married, my dad was drafted into the U.S. Army. My mother agreed to marry him, and together they set out and went to many foreign lands. The choices my parents made before I was born ensured that I would not continue the same level of poverty they had growing up.
All of this brings me to today. As I think about this week’s Torah portion 'Lech Lecha,' I am reminded that growing up in a military family I spent a lot of my youth moving from one city to another and from one school to another. Later, as an adult, I decided to serve my country, and I enlisted in the U.S. Army. One of the things I appreciated from being raised in a military family and being a service member is that, over the years, I have met so many people who are different from me; people who look different than me, talk differently than I do and often have different political views. I have learned to seek what we have in common rather than focus on differences.
I was ordained in 2018. Shortly after ordination, I was hired to be the rabbi at Elon University. My wife Susan had lived in Philadelphia her entire life, and I asked her to 'Lech Lecha,' to go forth on faith, to give up everything she knew so that we could move to North Carolina and have a better life.
After living in Elon for over a year, we bought a house in Burlington. For many of our neighbors, I'm probably the first Jewish person they have met and most likely the first rabbi they have met. I’m also in an interracial relationship and married to a woman. I'm saying all of this because we are living in very polarizing times in a society that has become in many ways more segregated, not necessarily because of laws, but because of class, choices and fear.
This week's Torah should be a reminder for all of us that we need to 'lech lecha,' go forth, go beyond ourselves, get out of our comfort zones, our silos, and interact with those who are different from us and listen across differences. We need to listen to others, not in hopes of getting them to change their opinions but so that we can see each other’s humanity and remember that we are all created in God's image.
Rabbi Sandra Lawson serves as the inaugural director of racial diversity, equity and inclusion for Reconstructing Judaism. Info: www.rabbisandralawson.com.
This article originally appeared on Times-News: Let’s talk about faith — the courage to obey God amidst uncertainty: Lawson
