Rabbi Dara Frimmer – Friday Night Shabbat Sermon 5779 – In the wake of missiles, op-eds, and Israel’s Independence Day, Rabbi Frimmer asks us to turn away from the headlines and look to Torah as our guide. The Holiness code instructs us to rebuke that which is wrong and the wrongdoers. At the same time, we cannot take vengeance or bear a grudge.

“This is the Holiness Code. It’s not a mirror. It’s not who we are right now. It’s a window, asking us to look out and see what we might aspire to be. At times, we are so far from the society described in the Torah. Still, we keep these verses close at hand. We read them once a year on Shabbat. We return to them during the Mincha service of Yom Kippur. They are the guiding words as we consider the start of a New Year – how do we hope to live? What society do we hope to create?

And it doesn’t say: when under attack, discard the code.”