This Shabbat arrives holding an impossible truth in its wings of peace: the two most transformative events in modern Jewish history: the Holocaust and the establishment of the modern State of Israel. This past week we made, as we must, the annual descent into the darkness of the hell of Jewish hatred and annihilation. Not doing so is a dangerous form of denial. This coming week we will make the annual ascent to the top of Mt. Scopus, in celebration of Yom Ha’atzma’ut, the establishment of Israel’s independence and its statehood. We’ll embrace all that its very existence means to Jews and the world. Each week, a member of the clergy offers their personal perspective on a topic of their choice, such as the week's Torah portion, a Jewish holiday, ritual, custom, or history.