Guess What!?

Guess what?  There is a new start-up minyan in West Mobile. You might say a new Shteebul (one-room shul) has sprung up. Starting back in January, 2015 a minyan has convened Friday afternoons in Somerby. We sing Shalom Aleichem, say the blessings for bread and wine, schmooze and kibitz a bit and I may share a three-minute Jewish thought or comment.

     On occasions we shed tears. Sometimes there is loss within a family and we pause, reflecting upon loved ones and then share a word of prayer. It’s very important to console one another. It unites us and strengthens each of us. But most of the time we just laugh. We laugh a great deal during our mini-service. We laugh as we greet each other and we laugh as we depart.

      Someone asked me to summarize Yom Kippur. To summarize Yom Kippur in a matter of moments is quite a challenge. Here goes-  

We make mistakes, we all try to learn how to be better people, we seek a connection with something far beyond the ordinary world to imbue our lies with meaning and we move forward. 

     Even though we are six weeks away from Yom Kippur or perhaps because we are six weeks away, we need to prepare ourselves. This week's Torah reading (known as R-ay) begins with the following phrase; 

 “Look-see, I, God give all of you today the choice of blessing and the choice of curse.”  

      It is up to all of us to choose how we shall live on a daily basis, not just one day per year. Will our behavior be a blessing to ourselves, each other and our community? Will our behavior be destructive for many or even one person?  The choice is ours. It is up to us to make a difference or not. That's Yom Kippur in a nutshell.

     What many Jews don't know is that Yom Kippur is only a last-ditch effort to repair our shortcomings. The best time to improve our lives is right now. Every day we look forward to see our future. This Torah reading (R-ay) literally means SEE. May we see every day as an opportunity for bringing blessing into all of our lives and may we not see a curse take hold of us.
May we see our future as an opportunity for improving our present.

Shabbat shalom!  

Rabbi Steve Silberman