One of the first things we learn about Moses in this week’s Torah reading is how he helps another person. Emerging from a sheltered existence as a member of Pharoah’s household, he sees an Israel slave being cruelly beaten by an Egyptian. The text reads that “he turned this way and that way and, seeing no one about, he struck down the Egyptian.”

While a simple reading of the text might suggest that Moses looked around to ensure that there were no witnesses, some commentators instead suggest that Moses looked around thinking that surely someone else would step up to stop this injustice. However, when he looked to those standing to his left and right, he realized that there was no one with the courage to intervene.

As a people we know too well the dangers of being a bystander and our mandate to stand up for the voiceless. We can’t afford to look at a problem and assume that someone else will solve it. Despite our very real limitations, I am inspired by the many in our own community who constantly look around and take action through acts of service and generosity to enhance our community and the world around us.

Moving to this community, I have cherished to learn the history of those who came before us. One particular narrative I have found powerful was how the Jewish-owned Nachman’s Department Store became the first store in the city to integrate during the Civil Rights Movement. In a newspaper article about the event, Joanne Roos recalled telling her father who owned the store “we have to take a stand and do what’s right.” Her sister Sue Anne Bangel said it wasn’t an easy decision, but it “led the charge to integrate. The other stores fell into line with Nachman’s and realized that they needed to integrate as well.” Nachman’s Department Store turned this way and that way and seeing no one about, made a decision.

It is this spirit that we also remember Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. this week. He was a true leader at a time when so many were being crushed physically and spiritually, and he was a leader who looked around him, seeing no one else watching, embraced action in the service of others. Rev. Dr. King once said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

Shabbat Shalom,
Eric Maurer
Executive Director
emaurer@ujcvp.org