The Small Gifts

Bereishit 5784 - The story of the creation of the world is the story of creating order from chaos.

Rami Kleinstein - Matanot K’tanot

WE CREATE WORLDS WITH OUR WORDS. 

God created the universe with words. “And God said, let there be light, and there was light.” Words have power, and the words in the Torah are filled with intention, and there are hints in the words that are used in the Torah that teach lessons only to be discovered or understood generations later.

In the Torah we read, “אלה תולדות השמים והארץ (Genesis 2:4),” “This is the chronicle of heaven and earth.” That same word “toldot,” “chronicle,” is used two chapters later when all of the first generations of humanity are listed, “זה ספר תולדות אדם (Genesis 5:1),” “This is the chronicle of humanity.” Why is that same word used? The Chasidic commentator Degel Machaneh Efraim (Rabbi Moshe Chaim Efraim of Sudilkov) teaches that it is to show that just as God spoke and the world was created, so too can we create worlds with our words. And not only that, he says, but the Torah itself requires us, in every single generation, to interpret and understand the Torah “לפי מה שצריך לאותו דור ולפי שרש נשמתן של אותו הדור,” According to what that generation needs at the time, and according to the root of the soul of that generation. 

So what does our generation need at this time? What is the soul of this generation? This has been the worst week for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. It is utter chaos. But the Torah has a lesson for us today. The story of the creation of the world is the story of creating order from chaos. Beauty from chaos. Light from chaos. Harmony from chaos. Family from chaos. And it wasn’t all in one fell swoop. Day after day, moment after moment, the chaos was ordered. Small steps. Small gifts. 

That is what is needed from us right now. Matanot k’tanot. What are the big and small ways in which we can contribute? Reach out to family. To loved ones in Israel and around the world. Find a way to connect, to hold each other close. Last night we filled our sanctuary at my synagogue with the sounds of voices young and old singing songs of Israel together. 

This beautiful song Matanot K’tanot by Rami Kleinstein, plays in our home before every Shabbat. In the chorus he sings, 

מַתָּנוֹת קְטַנּוֹת, מִישֶׁהוּ שָׁלַח לִי מַתָּנוֹת קְטַנּוֹת

רְסִיסִים שֶׁל כַּוָּנָה עִגּוּלִים שֶׁל אֱמוּנָה

מַתָּנוֹת קְטַנּוֹת, מִישֶׁהוּ שָׁלַח לִי מַתָּנוֹת קְטַנּוֹת

כְּמוֹ הַכּוֹחַ לְקַבֵּל אֶת מָה שֶׁאֵין אֶת מָה שֶׁיֵּשׁ

מָה עוֹד אֶפְשָׁר כְּבָר לְבַקֵּשׁ

Small gifts. Someone sent me small gifts. Slivers of intention, circles of faith.

Small gifts. Someone sent me small gifts. Like the strength to receive what isn’t and what is - what else could we ask for?

Resisim are slivers, and they are also shrapnel. We are still reeling from the terrible massacre and loss of life in Israel, still dealing with the shrapnel and the reverberations. If there is one small thing you can do - do it. 

Reach out and connect, and if you are looking for suggestions of places to send small gifts, here are a few:

1. Kibbutz Alumim near the border with Gaza was my brother’s home in Israel when he lived there, and their community, like so many near the border, was infiltrated and is in desperate need of help: 

2. Donate to Friends of the IDF supporting Israeli Soldiers at War here.

3. Donate to Magen David Adom here.

May our small gifts make a big difference this Shabbat and beyond.

Shabbat Shalom,

Josh