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Metzorah - Malachi 3:4-24

Hello HawkTorah peoples! This week is Shabbat HaGadol - the Shabbat before Passover!

For this momentous occasion we read Malachi 3:4-24 and we want to focus on the last couple of verses. Verses 23 and 24 read, “Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of the Lord. He shall reconcile parents with children and children with their parents, so that, when I come, I do not strike the whole land with utter destruction” (JPS). So, Elijah will come to tell us when the Messiah is coming and will help us prepare for that day and reconcile the generations so that G-d won’t smite us. This is so awesome and makes this portion very powerful and can give us some reassurance that this day will come. However, we want to challenge ourselves, and you. Don’t wait around for Elijah to come and fix everything wrong with the world. Don’t wait for Elijah to fix our relationships with one another and with the Earth. Do it yourself and start now. Humans are capable of so many beautiful things and we can help ourselves so when the “fearful day” comes, we are prepared all on our own.

“I don't wanna be like Cinderella sittin' in a dark old dusty cellar, waiting for somebody, to come and set me free.” i5, Play, Tata Young, The Cheetah Girls, and many others have sung these lyrics and empowered people everywhere. I mean, who hasn’t danced around the room singing “Cinderella” at the top of their lungs? The song calls out two famous Disney princesses out for not taking their lives into their own hands, Cinderella and Snow White. This week, we’re focusing on Cinderella.

Hopefully, we all know the famous rags to riches story so I won’t go too in-depth with the summary. Cinderella waited on her stepfamily hand and foot and spent years in this emotionally abusive relationship. She didn’t stand up for herself, she just allowed herself to be walked all over. She wanted to go to the ball but didn’t make an effort to try and go. It wasn’t until she got outside help from her fairy godmother that she even considered going. She was the one who gave Cinderella a new dress and a carriage and the whole nine yards which then convinced her to go. Then, at the end of the movie, Cinderella is locked in the attic by her step-mother to prevent her from getting with the prince. She just sits there and cries. If it weren’t for her animal friends, she probably would still be sitting there. In fact, her animal friends helped her a whole lot throughout this movie. Cinderella just didn’t take matters into her own hands.

And then there’s the other side of the coin. In the film Moana, Moana is a young princess who saves her island. Her island is slowly dying, and she is the one who is determined to go off and save it. She goes on this whole adventure across the ocean. She faces many challenges and foes along the way. It isn’t smooth sailing, quite literally. She has to work her butt off and learn new skills in order to succeed. Yes, she has some help along the way from the other characters, but ultimately she is the driving force in this adventure.

We could spend our days sitting around twiddling our thumbs waiting for someone to come and help us solve our problems or we can take control of our own lives. We aren’t damsels in distress. We are strong warriors ready to take life by the horns. Go out and work for what you want, because waiting on someone else is just wasting your time.