I want to talk with you about walls today. Why? Because we all put up walls; and because I felt myself climbing the walls as I tried to figure out what to write about this week.
I sat at my desk and I looked at the walls. Those walls contained pictures and those pictures made the walls speak to me. Those walls spoke to me about their family history.
They spoke of the Walls of Jericho and how Joshua made those walls come tumbling down.
Those walls told me how some of their family became famous for keeping people out and how some became famous for keeping people in.
Those walls talked to me about the Great Wall of China, which was built to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire from the attacks of Nomads.
They told me about The Berlin Wall, built in the middle of Berlin by East Germany to stop East Berliners from escaping to the west. Thank goodness that wall went down in 1989 with the fall of the Soviet Union.
Those walls told me of the great Walls of Troy, built to protect the city of Troy.
Those walls shared the story of one of the newest members of the wall family, The Vietnam Memorial Wall, which was built to honor those who fought and died or are still Missing in Action from yet another horrible time of war.
And, those walls proudly shared with me the story of their Jewish Branch, the Kotel, the Western Wall, the sole remnant of the Holy Temple located in Jerusalem.
Rabbi Riskin notes that Harav Kook, speaking of the Western Wall, said, “There are some hearts which are made of stone, and there are some stones which are truly hearts.”
Cardiologists may be able to go inside our bodies to see the wall of our heart, but there is an emotional side to the heart as well. Jerusalem is the heart of our people and The Wall … the Western Wall … is the heart of our city … and the seat of our soul.
Others may have damaged the walls of our heart, but we have found a way to bypass the damage by building something through the study of Torah that can survive beyond the walls.
Harold B. Lee wrote that, “The most important work you and I will ever do will be within the walls of our own homes.” What have we done and what are we doing of importance in this, our home?
Comedienne Goldie Hawn said, “Comedy breaks down walls. It opens up people. If you’re good, you can fill up those openings with something positive, maybe combat some of the ugliness in the world.”
As slaves in Egypt we lived a life imprisoned behind the walls of the Pharaoh. G-d freed us from those walls. He showed us that there were other walls for us to get through, as we walked through the Red Sea with a wall of water on both sides of us.
We still have many walls to get through. We have walls to break down and we have walls to build up.
Maryanne Hershey wrote, “May your walls know joy. May every room hold laughter and every window open to great possibility.”
Joshua may have blown a horn and knocked down the walls of Jericho, but, in just a couple of months, we will blow the Shofar for the High Holy Days.
May the blasts from that Shofar remind us to fill every space in the walls of our heart with loving kindness, and let us say, Amen.
Shalom my friends,
Rabbi Craig H. Ezring
Rabbi Ezring is the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach (201 S. Military Tr., Deerfield Beach, FL 33442). Regular Shabbat services are open to everyone on Saturday mornings from 9 to 11:30 a.m.
