November 13, 2010 | 6 Kislev 5771

Later this morning we will reach my favorite moment of any Bar or Bat Mitzvah.

After I have the opportunity to share a thought with Elana here in the middle of the bimah, I will ask her to bow her head. As I place my hands on her head, I will begin to offer the words of Birkat Kohanim, the priestly blessing.

“Yevarechecha Adonai Veyishmerecha” – May God bless you and keep you. “Keep you” – a strange phrase in English. “Yevarechecha” literally means “protect you.”

What will I mean as I say it? Am I asking God to become a protective shield around Elana guarding her from all harm? You and I know that would not be possible…for you and I know that no amount of invoking God’s presence will protect people from harm. Yes, you and I know that…but at the outset of today’s parasha Jacob does not appear to be aware of that reality.

Jacob is running away from his brother Esau who will surely kill him after Jacob has stolen the rights and the blessing of the first born from him. An exhausted Jacob lies down for the night and has that well-known dream of a ladder that reaches to the heavens. In that dream God speaks to Jacob and promises him divine protection. When Jacob awakes, he realizes for the first time in his life that God is with him, and he makes a vow – If God protects me on my journey and provides me with food, drink and clothing, and I return home safely – then God will be my God.

Listen to that vow – it sounds crass, doesn’t it?

Jacob turns to this newly discovered God and says – “OK, You said you are going to protect me? Then this is what I need You to do.”

But look at the remainder of the stories about Jacob during his sojourn outside the Land of Israel, and you will see no such direct divine protection. Jacob spends twenty years in Charan, and never once does the Torah tell us that God directly intervened to protect him or provide him with his basic needs. Nonetheless, it is clear to me that God did bless Jacob.

How so? By providing Jacob with what we call “God-given abilities…”

…with patience when his father-in-law Lavan cheats him, …with resolve to overcome the difficulties he experiences, …and with insight to find the means to provide for his family. God gave all of these abilities and many more to Jacob. But it was Jacob who had to act to give expression to them. Only then could Jacob be protected from harm.

Like Jacob, God gives us infinite abilities, but it is we who must use them for our own welfare and for the well-being of others. Our community is presently involved in a program that seeks to do exactly that in an area of unparalleled importance – conceiving a child.

The program is called the Atlanta Jewish Gene Screen.

Did you know that one in five Ashkenazi Jews is a carrier for a Jewish genetic disease? If two people are carriers of the same genetic disease and conceive a child – there is a 25% chance that child will be born with a likely fatal genetic disease. And yet, with that knowledge, there are still a number of Jewish child-bearing couples who do not have a simple blood test that can detect eighteen different genetic diseases. In effect, whether it is out of ignorance or fear, these couples play Russian roulette with a potential life.

Like Jacob, they say, “Give us what we need, God!”

It just doesn’t work that way. Tragically, even couples who previously underwent screening can produce a child with a genetic disease.

That is “Eden’s Story” that many of you read on Rosh Hashana when we placed these pamphlets on the pews. A young Atlanta couple did all the right things before they sought to have children. Unfortunately their doctors were not familiar with all of the genetic diseases that could be detected at that time.

The Atlanta Jewish Gene Screen, a program that will be replicated in other communities, seeks to put an end to such heart-breaking stories. By informing physicians about all of the genetic diseases that can be screened today, by reminding rabbis to have appropriate conversations with couples during their pre-marital meeting, by educating you, the community, and by providing screening opportunities,

The Atlanta Jewish Gene Screen says, in effect, God will protect only when you, your loved ones and friends use your God-given abilities to protect.

We are fortunate and honored to welcome Dr. Adele Schneider this Shabbat morning. Dr. Schneider is an expert in the field of Jewish genetic diseases. At 12:45 p.m. today, she will offer a presentation in the Chapel. Toward the end of our service today Dr. Schneider will tell you more about her presentation.

Then, there is tomorrow…a very important day. The Atlanta Jewish Gene Screen is sponsoring the first of three screenings at the Marcus Jewish Community center of Atlanta, 11 a.m. till 7 p.m. Even though you can no longer register in advance for it, you can walk in.

I urge you to share this information with loved ones and friends who may be seeking to become pregnant. Again, screening should be done not just once, but prior to each potential pregnancy because the number of diseases that are screened may have grown since the couple’s last test.

In next week’s Torah reading we learn that after a transformative encounter with his brother Esau, Jacob arrives in the city of Shechem “shalem.”

“Shalem” – Jacob was “whole.” At that moment he was profoundly content. Why?  Because he had used his God-given abilities to create a life of well-being for himself and his children.

We must do the same. God gives us the ability in very particular ways to protect God’s greatest creation and our most sacred trust, our children. But it is we, not God, who must act to do so.

Let us, our children, loved ones, and friends seize the opportunity that the Atlanta Jewish Gene Screen provides.

Amen.