Rabbi’s Update 4/18/2025

Dear Friends:

My paternal grandfather, after whom I am named, died before I was born. But he had one brother and three sisters who I knew. His two youngest sisters both passed away after I was already ordained as a rabbi, and particularly while I was in rabbinical school I learned quite a bit about my family history from our conversations. 

Five Arian siblings and their parents came to New York from Ilya, Belarus. However, there was a sixth sibling, another brother (whose name I never learned) who died in Ilya as a child. According to family legend, he fell sick during the Christian Holy Week (which this year coincides with Passover). There was only one doctor in town, who was a Christian, and as an act of piety to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus, he would not treat Jews during Holy Week. And as a result, my grandfather’s brother, my great uncle, died of what was normally a treatable illness.

I do not know how accurate this story really is, but in some senses it doesn’t matter. It reflects the relationship between Jews and Christians in Czarist Russia in the late 1800s and early 1900s, regardless of the accuracy of the details here and there.

There are times when the action or inaction of one person makes all the difference. On the seventh day of Pesach we recall our ancestors crossing the Red Sea on dry land while being pursued by Pharaoh’s army. According to the Midrash, it was not until Nachshon ben Aminadav strode into the sea up to his neck that God was inspired to split the sea for our ancestors. If not for the bravery of Nachson, the sea would have remained in place and our ancestors would have been either killed or brought back to slavery in Egypt.

At the same time, during Passover we also recall the Egyptian midwives, Shifra and Puah, who defied Pharaoh and disobeyed his order to kill the newborn Hebrew boys. And we recall the Egyptians who suffered and died as a result of Pharaoh’s acts of injustice towards our ancestors. We spill ten drops of wine at the Seder in remembrance of the Ten Plagues, and during the last six days of Pesach we say a half Hallel rather than a full Hallel because of the Egyptian soldiers who drowned in the Red Sea.

Who are our contemporary Nachsons, the Shifras and Puahs, who act bravely and change the course of history for the better? I think of Rosa Parks who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a White man and inspired the Montgomery Bus Boycott. I think of the anonymous “Tank Man” of Tiananmen Square. Malala Yousefzai, the crusader for girls’ education against the Taliban. And our own Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who did not take “no” for an answer when stopped by armed Salvadoran soldiers yesterday, and last night was able to meet the wrongly-deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia and confirm for his family that he is still alive. 

While it is legitimate to have differing views about the issue of immigration, what the laws should be and how they should be enforced, the Constitution guarantees due process to everyone who is present in the country, regardless of their immigration status. The Torah commands us 36 times to treat the stranger and the immigrant with kindness and compassion. Or as the fictional detective Harry Bosch puts it, “everyone counts or nobody counts.”

This year we will be saying Yizkor on both Day VII, Saturday April 19, and Day VIII, Sunday April 20. The service on Day VII will be in person and on Zoom, while the next day will be Zoom only. If you are joining the service on Zoom you’ll need a pdf of the Yizkor service which can be found here: 

Yizkor Book 5785.pdf

Also, we “reset” our MiSheberach list every year at Pesach and Rosh Hashanah. The list for this weekend has already been printed but if you find that we dropped a name that you want to have remained, please contact the office when it reopens after Pesach and we will restore the name to the list.

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 or 301-977-0768 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