Friday, August 15, 2025/22 Av, 5785

Friday, August 15, 2025/22 Av, 5785

Parashat Eikev Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25 

Dear TBE Community,

This is the second Week of Consolation – and on so many levels, consolation, the love and comfort invoked last week, seem far away, almost out of reach. 

This week’s haftara from the book of Isaiah begins: “Zion says: God has forsaken me, my Sovereign has forgotten me,” echoing how many people feel, in our own social circles, in our country, in Israel and Gaza, around the world. 

“I lift my eyes to the mountains; from where will my help come?” Psalm 121 asks and gives the answer in the next line: “My help comes from the Eternal, maker of heaven and earth.”

But does that answer really help and comfort us? How can we believe in help and comfort, when they seem so far away?

In “Dance me to the End of Love,” the singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen makes an appeal to believe that help and comfort can be as close as the mountains might seem distant: “Raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn.”

Even a flimsy and torn tent can provide a certain shelter. The mountains might seem unreachable, but they are there, sturdy and majestic, a dwelling-place for the Divine. 

In Torah Study yesterday, we spoke about gratitude, about recognizing and acknowledging the good in our lives, and how difficult that can be. How easy it is to veer toward the negative, to focus on what is NOT working. The Israelites in the desert had a similar issue: They were supposed to be grateful for the manna that was falling from the sky to sustain them in the wilderness, but they began taking it for granted, grew tired of it and eventually complained about the same food on the table. But it was food on the table, it was God sustaining them on the way to “a land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and date honey.” (Deuteronomy 8:8)

Our circumstances today are different from those of the Israelites. But human nature hasn’t changed – often, even when we are satiated, we are not satisfied. 

And granted, that ambition has brought forth progress and refinement: Why content ourselves with the first acceptably nice beach we see? There might be a better one just behind the next cliff. And while we might indeed be able to ultimately find our (almost) perfect stretch of beach, the hunt for the bigger, better deal can make us restless, discontent, feel inferior; cause us to end relationships or never commit to one, rob us of our good night’s sleep and our serenity.

Standing at the banks of the Jordan, Moses anticipated that even when the people would have reached that (never truly reachable) land, they wouldn’t be satisfied. And he tried to prepare them for the days without him: 

“When you have eaten your fill, and have built fine houses to live in, and your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold have increased, and everything you own has prospered, beware lest your heart grow haughty and you forget your God Adonai—who freed you from the land of Egypt, the house of bondage.” (Deuteronomy 8:12-14)

When we feel on top, when we are satiated, we might forget that we once needed help to get where we are now, that we once uttered desperate prayers for precisely that help. A prayer that might have been directed to the mountains although they seemed far away, a prayer that asked for any kind of shelter. A prayer that promised we would be satisfied with a simple tent and not covet the fancier version. A prayer that believed that comfort would eventually come. 

Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Julia Knobloch
rabbiknobloch@bethelsp.org

More Torah Tidbits

Hadas Cootware

Torah School Coordinator

Hadas Cootware has been teaching Hebrew and Jewish Studies for over a decade, joining our Temple Beth El Community in 2018. Born and raised in Israel with Hebrew as her native language, she previously served as a combat soldier and operations officer in the IDF. Drawing on her studies in acting and psychology, she published a children’s book in Hebrew, The Marshmallow Story, which focuses on delayed gratification. Outside of teaching, she is the proud mother of her son, Henry, and loves to travel.

TBEtorahschool@bethelsp.org

Ilan Davidson

Cantor

Cantor Ilan Davidson has been pleasing audiences with his singing since before he could read. At age five, he began singing with his Cantor, Philip Moddel, and hasn’t shut up since. At ten, he made his Operatic debut with the Fullerton Civic Light Opera’s production of Bizet’s Carmen, as a street urchin. Since then, he has performed roles in opera and musical theatre, performing, directing, and producing world-class productions.

Among his many accomplishments, Cantor Davidson is also known as a contemporary Jewish songwriter and performer, having delighted audiences all over the world, including Israel and Lithuania with the soulful sounds of his music. His recordings, Stained Glass (1995) and In A Hanukkah Mood (2007) are collections of original and covered songs by himself and many contemporary Jewish artists. His most recent recording, God Is In This Place (2020), is a collection of original liturgical pieces for the Friday night Shabbat Service, commissioned and written in honor of his 25th Anniversary as the Cantor of Temple Beth El.

Cantor Davidson left the stage and in 1995 joined the Temple Beth El family, in San Pedro, where, in his nearly 30 years of service, he has brought many new programs and much enthusiasm to all he does. Coming from a long line of Cantors, it must have been Besheret for Cantor Davidson, although talented in all areas of musical performance, to finally settle down into his career as Hazzan for Temple Beth El in San Pedro, California. In 2007, Cantor Davidson founded a new foundation, KindredSPIRITS, producing an annual world humanitarian aid event. KindredSPIRITS premiered on June 5, 2008 at Walt Disney Concert Hall, adding that prestigious concert hall to the ever growing list of venues around the world, where Davidson has performed. During the 10 years of humanitarian events, Global KindredSPIRITS, Inc., as an official 501©3, raised awareness and close to $500,000 for its beneficiaries over the decade.
As a past president of the South Coast Interfaith Council, Ilan fought for tolerance and understanding of ALL faiths in a difficult climate. For the past 7 years, Cantor Davidson has been service as an LA County Commissioner, representing the 4th District on the Human Relations Commission, where he currently serves as President. Whether it is raising his voice for justice, Hazzanut, Pop, Opera, Musical Theatre, or folk music, Cantor Ilan Davidson shares his soul and genuine love in every note.

When asked about his finest accomplishment, Cantor Ilan invariably responds, “After all the great concerts, services, and roles, my finest role in life is that of husband to my beautiful wife, Jodi, and daddy to my gorgeous daughters, Jordan and Zoe.”

cantor@bethelsp.org

Office: (310) 833-2467 Ext. 106

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