A beautiful contemporary midrash imagines Moses, a young prince growing up in Pharaoh’s palace, ignorant of his Jewish heritage and family. Every night, Moses wanders outside the walls of the palace, feeling restless, and seeking something that he can’t name. Eventually, on a fortuitious Friday night his wandering brings him to the Jewish neighbourhood. He peers into one of the homes and sees a family lighting Shabbat candles. This strange action seems bizarrely familiar to him, but Moses has no idea why. The next night, Moses is drawn yet again to the same neighbourhood. This time, he observes a Jewish mother tucking her children into bed, telling bedtime stories with strangely named characters — Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, and Rachel. After the stories, the mother quietly sings Shema and kisses her children. Those stories and that song resonated deeply in Moses’ heart and soul, but he has no idea why. The following night, Moses once more walks to the Jewish neighbourhood, this time following a familiar yet delicious scent that he can’t place. He reaches the home of a Jewish family, with a pot of chicken soup simmering on the stove. And in that moment, Moses realizes that he belongs here – that he is Jewish, that these people are his people.
This story is not really about whether or not the ancient Israelites were simmering chicken soup like my Hungarian and Polish great-grandmothers (more likely, their chicken soup was flavoured with something like the Yemenite hawaij spice blend than the celery and carrots I grew up with!). It is really about the call that our Jewish souls here, even after years of distance and disconnect from Jewish family, Jewish heritage, Jewish community. It’s this same call that often brings people into our community and our people through conversion – a sense of seeking that leads them to Judaism and its ancient wisdom and practices. It’s this same call that has brought many of you into deeper engagement with Temple Shalom, and has brought thousands of Jews to seek Jewish life in the months and years since October 7.
Just like Moses, I hope when you hear that call, you will answer it affirmatively, leaning into our community, our heritage, and our traditions.
