Rabbi’s Update 1/9/2026

Dear Friends:

This week we begin reading Sefer Shemot, the Book of Exodus. The story of the Exodus is the beginning of our people’s foundational story, but it has also inspired people throughout history and in many places to resist the Pharaohs of their era.

The first act of resistance in Exodus was that of the midwives, Shifra and Puah, who had the courage to defy Pharaoh’s immoral decree even though it was the law of the land. If they had complied, if they had thrown up their hands saying “what can I do?” our people would have perished, the Exodus would not have happened, and the entire story of Am Yisrael would not have come into being.

The Torah text is vague about the origins of Shifra and Puah. Many commentators believe that they were not Hebrews but ethnic Egyptians. Even so, the text tells us, they “feared God” and as a result they saw the Hebrews as fellow human beings.

The key lesson of the Book of Exodus comes a bit later, in Chapter 23, Verse 9: וְגֵ֖ר לֹ֣א תִלְחָ֑ץ וְאַתֶּ֗ם יְדַעְתֶּם֙ אֶת־נֶ֣פֶשׁ הַגֵּ֔ר כִּֽי־גֵרִ֥ים הֱיִיתֶ֖ם בְּאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃ -- you shall not oppress the stranger; you know what it is like to be a stranger, because you were strangers in the Land of Egypt.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks taught that the commandment to love your neighbor is actually pretty easy to observe. It’s easy to love those who are like us, who speak the same language and share the same ethnicity and religion. It is the commandment to love the stranger which is difficult and countercultural; xenophobia and hatred or fear of “the other” is, as Rabbi Sacks wrote, “the oldest of passions.” But it is the experience of being a stranger and the commandment to stand up for the stranger which is foundational to Jewish identity.

Renee Nicole Good had the courage of Shifra and Puah. She stood up for people who were not of her ethnicity, and she paid for her courage with her life. 

Throughout the country people are standing up for their neighbors and training as nonviolent observers. Everyone who is present in this country, citizen or non-citizen, documented or undocumented, has certain basic rights. Even if this were not so, Judaism as well as Christianity and Islam teach that all human beings are created in the divine image and that all human persons are worthy of respect and dignity. Peaceful witness and documentation of ICE actions holds officers -- who after all, work for us -- accountable. People who are doing their jobs properly should have nothing to fear from being observed and having their actions documented.

Rabbi Harold Kravitz is the immediate past president of the Rabbinical Assembly and a resident of Minneapolis. He has acted as a trained nonviolent observer over the past few months. He writes: The overreach of ICE enforcement appears designed to instill fear in our community. We cannot succumb to fear. Each of us can find the courage to do something, no matter how small, to protect democracy and stand up for human dignity.

Like Rabbi Kravitz I have taken nonviolent observer training and since this summer have been spending some of my days off putting that training to use. I have travelled the DMV from Baltimore to Manassas serving as a protective presence for our fellow human beings who were created in the image of God. I will continue to do so, which is my right and my duty as an American and as a Jew.

If you or someone you know is in need because of having been laid off, or has lost benefits of some type and needs immediate help, please let me know. I can access limited funds through the Jewish Federation almost immediately. For longer-term help, the Hebrew Free Loan Society will loan up to $18,000 interest-free and the Jewish Federation has set up a hotline to access assistance at 703-JCARING.

As a reminder, I am having drop-in hours on Thursday afternoons from 2 to 4 at the shul. For my drop-in hours, you do not need to make an appointment -- that would negate the whole point of drop-in hours -- but I’d urge you to check and make sure I am there regardless as sometimes there are unavoidable pastoral or other emergencies which might take me away from the building. 

As always, if I can do anything for you or you need to talk, please contact me at rabbi@kehilatshalom.org rather than through the synagogue office. I am happy to meet you at the synagogue by appointment; if you want to speak with me it’s best to make an appointment rather than assuming I will be there when you stop by. 

Additionally, if you know of a Kehilat Shalom congregant or another member of our Jewish community who could use a phone call, please let me know.

L’shalom,

Rabbi Charles L. Arian