Dear Friends,

This week’s Parsha begins with G-d’s timeless promise to the Jews, expressed poetically through four stages of redemption: “I will take you out, I will rescue you, I will redeem you, I will take you to me.” These four statements show us how G-d brings us from a place of confusion and darkness into a place of light and redemption.

We begin by shunning evil, cleansing ourselves of the false gods we have served, allowing ourselves to release our grip on what we believed to be the most important things in our lives.

Once we show up clean and honest, we can begin building a new framework for our path in life, asking ourselves questions such as, ‘why has G-d chosen me for this journey?’ or ‘What is the true purpose in my existence?’ When we create curiosity about ourselves and our purpose, we are propelled to a new level. We release fear and welcome the next chapter in our story.
When curiosity is present, we can begin seeking answers, and G-d has planted these answers into the Torah. We find messages of infinity and expanded consciousness within Torah’s beautiful tales and lessons. Messages that uplift us and redeem us from the constrictions of our human limitations and bring us to a place where G-d is good and that everything he does is good.

Then we find unity with G-d, who brings us towards Him, gifting us with His love and compassion, sharing with us tremendous blessing that was not available to us before we went through this process of redemption.

In this space of newfound faith and hope, we find a deep prayer. A call from the depths of pain and struggle. The cry of the Jewish people in Egyptian exile, which shook the Heavens and began their journey towards their redemption. G-d waited until the Jews called out to Him, as He is waiting for our call.

As we struggle through another week of loss and confusion, we find our heartfelt voice, the prayer that we could not access before our loss. Let us cry out together to G-d with faith amidst our pain, and ask Him to reveal the blessings that He has been holding onto as He waited for us to be ready to ask.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Zushe Cunin