This weekend, the Philadelphia Eagles go up against the Kansas City Chiefs to determine who will be crowned Super Bowl champion. You might be asking yourself, what does the Super Bowl have to do with the Shabbat message?  

At first glance, this week's reading includes the powerful imagery shared when God tells Moses: “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on EAGLES’ wings and brought you to myself.” God is an eagle — what better omen could there be for a Philadelphia victory on Sunday!  But then again, this week's Torah reading is named after Moses' father-in law Yitro, the great CHIEF priest of Midian. It looks like we will have to leave the final decision of this year's Super Bowl champion to Sunday.

Beyond these satirical suggestions, I want to share an idea from Rabbi Stuart Halpern, Senior Adviser at Yeshiva University, who suggests that the real MVP of the Super Bowl is the chain-movers.  A practically invisible process, chain-moving involves anonymous individuals schlepping actual metallic links yard by yard. Without them the game would not be possible.  

Our tradition has long treasured those who pass things along. Rabbi Halpern writes, "we celebrate Ruth, an ancient immigrant who extended a quiet act of kindness; and Judah, a leader who had the courage to admit failure and fix it; and Isaac, a son who knew the obligations involved in keeping a family together. None are extraordinary or larger than life; all are human beings who realized that for the game to continue, someone has to pick up the links and quietly move them along."

Look at our own Jewish community. It certainly is NOT the Executive Director of the UCJVP that makes our community tick. It's the people that give their time, talent and treasure - the volunteers who work with our seniors at Grand Club each week, the men and women who show up early to synagogue to set up chairs and kiddush, the Super Sunday volunteers that fuel our annual campaign, the self-trained spiritual leaders who lead prayer services when the Rabbi needs a much deserved break, the maintenance manager who works tirelessly to keep up with the robust programming on the campus, the dedicated board members and committee members that sustain our communal institutions and the professionals that work day and night to meet the needs of our community. The list of individuals could quite easily continue.

These volunteers who take on all the tasks that are mundane and absolutely necessary for communal life to function deserve much praise.  

As you watch the Super Bowl this Sunday, keep an eye out in the background for the quiet individuals keeping the game going, yard by yard, and remember how indebted we are to our own chain-movers who pick up the links and move them along.  ​​​​​​​​​

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