“A note about events in Detroit and thoughts about the war,” Rabbi Elaine Zecher’s Shabbat Awakenings

March 13, 2026 | 24 Adar 5786

Welcome to Shabbat Awakenings, a weekly reflection as we move toward Shabbat. You can also listen to it as a podcast.

A note about events in Detroit and thoughts about the war

As we enter this Shabbat, we hold the members of Temple Israel of Detroit who faced an active shooter at their synagogue this past Thursday. All in the building were moved to safety and their brave and well-trained security personnel protected them and saved their lives. It is during moments such as these that we appreciate the policies and procedures that we, too, at Temple Israel of Boston have put in place though we hope we will never need them. Though it happened halfway across the United States, we feel the personal connection.  Please know we are here for you and for one another. We will continue to do what we do well, taking care of each other and living Judaism together.

Shabbat Awakenings: Human Consequence

The toll of war is about human consequence.
When the rubble is removed and the missiles cease to cross the skies,
When leaders end their strategic and tactical advances within their war rooms,
And the soldiers begin to make their way home, wounded in seen and unseen ways,
And the people begin to emerge from their bomb shelters.
And families bury their dead.
We will continue-still-to ponder the impact on human beings
And the potential for humanity every single person carries.

We might, nevertheless, desire to demonize another nation or people,
Fear their might or potential to destroy,
Wrap ourselves in worry about them,
Yet, how much of our own humanity do we lose in the process?

Perhaps, let’s engage in an exercise
And imagine every person is a child.
The truth is that every person is or once was a little kid
Learning about love and hate and how compassion helps others.
Yes, there are those who are nursed to hate, despise, and destroy
But I would like to think, and hope it is so, that they are a much
Smaller percentage than the billions of human beings
Taught of the power of love.

The toll of war is about human consequence.
The lesson is to comprehend the violence
To see the faces
each created in the image of the divine.

I know war is complex. I know it is complicated.
I know there are political, personal, and national agendas at play.
I know there are zealots, fanatics, and fundamentalists.
Yet, a simple truth remains.
We are all human beings and, in the end,
the ultimate consequence
will be upon us all.

Shabbat Shalom! שבת שלום

I welcome your thoughts and experiences here.

Rabbi Elaine Zecher