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Rabbi Message

05/27/2022 06:12:48 PM

May27

Dear Chevre,

This week, the Torah reading in Parshat Bechukotai describes the blessings and curses that the Israelites will face depending on whether or not they follow the commandments.  

We have certainly been in touch with sadness, anger, and fear this week in our nation and in our world. There are real curses, afflictions, and plagues that we are dealing with, particularly with Uvalde on our mind, and the devastating loss of children.

Rabbi Gordon Tucker writes:

“Jewish tradition gave us a beautifully evocative expression of the life-giving energy of every classroom in the world. It imagined the condensation coming from the mouths of young students sitting in class and breathing in the cold air of a wintry morning, and it asserted that the world is sustained by that very steamy breath of devoted schoolchildren. How grotesquely ironic it is to see the perversion of that image, as we mourn the shattering reality that the breaths of so many innocent schoolchildren have now become lifeless air.”

Rabbi Tucker goes on to say that against the hard evidence that tells us that there could be no end to this nightmare, that we should yet “cry out, for God’s sake and for ours”, that we should “scream about Uvalde, for God’s sake” like our prophets of yore. [https://www.jtsa.edu/scream-about-uvalde/]/

Whether we give financially to organizations promoting sensible gun laws, encourage people to vote for those who value lives above greed and power, or through other means, there are many ways to “cry out”, to “scream.”

We also know how exhausting and depleting it is when we only sit in the place of rage and despair. Shabbat arrives to remind us of the blessings, of community, of rejuvenation.

There are blessings in our community of weddings, of b’nai mitzvah, of graduations, of emotional and spiritual openings. We try to carve out enough space for all of the experiences.

On this Shabbat, let us lift up some of the blessings, and create some space to breathe and appreciate.

I hope to see many of you in person and on Zoom this evening at 7:00 pm as we thank and hear from rabbinic intern Lesley, while celebrating an upcoming bar mitzvah and wedding.

CLICK HERE

Join us tomorrow evening at 8:00 pm for Havdalah and reflections from LJ Deneby of the Wolf Clan who is an educator, storyteller and water protector. Please join us in person tomorrow at 8:00 pm or on Zoom at: 

CLICK HERE

Shabbat shalom,

Rabbi Diana

 

Thu, March 28 2024 18 Adar II 5784