When God calls on Moses to go back to Egypt and free the Israelites from bondage, Moses famously tries to refuse. Every time I read this story, I am astounded by the ways he balks: “Who am I that I should go?” “What shall I say is your name?” “What if they do not believe me?” “I have never been a man of words.” And finally, “Please O Lord, make someone else your agent!”

We can learn many lessons from this exchange. Moses is afraid, yet he has the courage to voice his fear. He is humble about his limitations, but he is brought to accept that these limitations do not free him from obligation. One interesting lesson comes from the way this argument ends. Our prophet seems ready to persist with one protest after another. God’s answers, instructions, and arguments do not help. But the response that ends the discussion is when Aaron, Moses’ brother, is brought in to join the effort. We could say that Moses has not been unwilling to act, but rather, he has refused to act alone.

The old spiritual “Go Down, Moses” may lead us to picture a solitary Moses standing before Pharoah. However, we know he was not alone. Aaron was there, and there may have been other Israelites standing by their side – many meetings like these among leaders involved full delegations. I prefer to read this into the story. In any case, when the time later came for the people to leave, they rose up and left together by the thousands. This is the beginning of the journey that transformed the many individuals, called the Hebrews, into the Jewish people, acting together.

The spirit of acting together is essential to what it means to be a sacred community. When Temple Rodef Shalom was asked in November to step in as an overflow hypothermia shelter during the last week of 2025, it was a meaningful opportunity for us. Our members gave their time and energy during those cold nights to welcome 30 people into our building who otherwise would have spent those nights outside. Together in community, they made sure that each of these guests had a place to sleep, a nighttime snack, a cup of coffee, and a hot breakfast.

If you would like to act with others during the year, there are many ways to do so within the Temple community, and they are growing. For example, our partnership with a local school provides a chance to help both within and outside the classroom as part of a group from our congregation. You can explore these opportunities here.

As we enter a new secular year, we invite you to think of your community as a place to act together.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Jeff Saxe