During the last week, at any given moment, six rabbinic students were crisscrossing the state of Idaho. Wrapping tefillin with three generations of a family from Deary. Lighting Shabbat candles with professors and artists in Moscow. Singing Jewish songs in picturesque Salmon. Printing the Tanya in Victor.
All in all, the aspiring rabbis were touched at the hospitality and warm welcome they received throughout our great state of Idaho. And, the Jews were touched that they are not forgotten Jews.
In fact, as the yeshiva bochurim explained, these Jews in the small towns across Idaho have an important responsibility. They must serve as pillars of light, as embassies for the Jewish people.
It really is great to know that when you travel you have a place to call home. In fact, in my international voyages I have drawn a strong sense of comfort knowing that there were both Jews and Americans that I could turn to. I’ve had my passport reissued in places like Nairobi, Kenya and I’ve sought refuge of sorts at the Israeli embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. And, I have been welcomed into Jewish homes across the globe – from Vrede, South Africa to Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine.
I’m not alone in appreciating this sense of security and comfort at an embassy. Some famous – or infamous – fellows have used embassies as an impervious shield from other countries’ law enforcement.
*
In this week’s parsha Shoftim we discover another type of refuge, the Ir Miklat (City of Refuge), which offered protection to the unintentional killer. If such a person fled to these specific towns they were immune from revenge by the relatives of the deceased.
The Chassidic Rebbes teach that there is also an “embassy in time” – a period in which we can find safe harbor from the chaos and challenges that usually surround us.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, former British Chief Rabbi, explains in an essay based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe:
The month of Elul, is, in time, what the cities of refuge were in space. It is a month of sanctuary and repentance, a protected time in which a man can turn from the shortcomings of his past and dedicate himself to a new and sanctified future.
This sanctuary is the current month of Elul, the period of preparation for the High Holy Days. It is during these four weeks that we take stock of the past year and prepare for the coming one. We evaluate our deeds and station in life, probing and resolving toward growth and change.
We can always mend our ways and improve our activities. But the month of Elul is an auspicious time. Now, specifically, our Father in Heaven is eagerly anticipating our humble advance. G-d’s doors are open. Actually, He is out in the field, visiting with us.
An embassy might provide some degree of relief, but we have at our fingertips the ultimate safe haven.
During Elul – more than ever – we are truly in G-d’s embassy. Let us take advantage. It is customary to engage in spiritual self-examination and increase in one’s Torah study, prayer, acts of kindness and teshuvah.
Let’s open up our hearts and souls. Hashem is waiting with open arms and giving us an extra boost!