This week on Voices of Emanu El, Rabbi Oren Hayon reflects on Aretha Franklin’s “Call Me,” the Torah portion Beha’alotcha, and the haunting image of a menorah whose flame must eventually rise on its own. Drawing on Rashi’s teaching that Aaron is commanded to kindle the lamp “until the flame rises by itself,” Rabbi Hayon explores what it means to love our children, students, and friends enough to step back and trust the light we’ve helped ignite in them. As kids leave for camp, graduates head into new chapters, and we all face summertime goodbyes, this sermon invites us to see those moments not only as loss, but as the holiest completion of love: when the brightness finally rises in the ones we love, not by might, not by power, but by spirit alone.
