A Jewish Idea- Homeless women & Purim

  

It’s easy to find bad news. Your cellphone brings bad news to you minute by minute. It’s tempting to turn off the news feed and to ignore accounts of pain and suffering. Unfortunately, extinguishing the news app won’t extinguish news of suffering. Just 10 days ago a generous, intelligent healthy, patriotic American, named Taylor Force, who having graduated from West Point and served in Afghanistan in the United States Army, was killed by a Palestinian. Taylor, a 29-year old Vanderbilt graduate student in Management was beloved by many and participating in a group study tour in Israel. Taylor sought to improve his world, our world, by offering his life during military service and his intellect and ambition through graduate studies. Who would have imagined that it would be his desire to change and improve the world through education that would bring a terrorist to his side?

     The world can be a very dangerous place. We have two choices; to hide or to live. Judaism teaches us to live. Not fatalistically seeking harm, we embrace daily life to its fullest. We celebrate life! Purim begins the day after tomorrow and we celebrate overcoming adversaries!

On Wednesday, March 23  we gather to eat TRIANGULAR pizza. 5:30-6:15 p.m. Those in costume eat for free. Those in ordinary clothes please pay $4.

6:15-7:15 p.m. we read the Megillah, drown out the name of ‘He whose name should not be pronounced’ and then eat Hamantaschen.

Prizes will be given for the best costume and for the most CREATIVE GROGGER!!

DURING MEGILLAH READING WE WILL BE BAGGING PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS FOR HOMELESS WOMEN. SISTERHOOD WILL DELIVER THESE ITEMS TO McKEMIE PLACE ON MONDAY MARCH 28  AS WELL AS SERVE DINNER.

Items you can bring to Megillah reading: personal size shampoo and conditioner, soap, travel size Kleenex, toothpaste, hand sanitizer.

Thank you to Sisterhood for cooking dinner for McKemie Place on Sunday March 27 and delivering the meal and serving it on Monday March 28. If you want to volunteer please contact  Jean Harper or Manette Silberman

Come  to Shul! Celebrate our survival and our determination to live in the face of adversity. Support the homeless women in our community!

L’Chaim!

See you in Shul and bring a friend!

Shabbat Thoughts- Vayikra

Throughout the South it is common to greet people by saying “HEY”. We even go so far as to request that person A give regards to person B on our behalf when A sees B; ‘Just tell him hey’. It is affectionate, respectful and ‘Haimish’ (down home).

Tell him I said “hey” conveys a desire to be attended to; a desire that someone else knows we are calling out to her or him.

 This week’s Torah reading is Vayikra and begins the 3^rd volume of the Torah. English speakers know the word Leviticus which is a Latinized term referring to laws and practices associated with the tribe of Levi. Leviticus garners this name from the main content of the volume. But, the Hebrew term Vayikra has nothing to do with Levi. It means ‘And he called’. No pronoun or subject is specified but context and logic indicate that God called out to Moses. It’s a curious term because it is remarkably different from the hundreds of times in the Torah that verbs of ‘speech’ and ‘talk’ are used to describe God’s interactions with Moses.

 How are we to understand this term of calling out to Moshe?

One of our foremost Torah commentaries, RASHI, is intrigued by this word. He examines many usages of the term ‘to call’ and concludes that it bespeaks affection when initiating communication. Imagine God’s call to Moses as one of affection and love. God affectionately called out to Moses in the same manner as we wish to address and be addressed. Whenever we just say ‘hey’ in our daily lives we are emulating God as God called out to Moses.

 Imagine if God were to call out to you or me and just say ‘Hey”. How would we feel? I wonder how we could help to make that happen.  Perhaps the first step would be to open our ears to God’s call. We might need to climb a ladder, becoming ever-more attuned to hearing someone else’s call. It would require patience, empathy and diligence when listening. Come to think of it these steppingstones to hearing God’s call are the requisite elements for maintaining affectionate communication between people.

     That’s how we can begin our study of the third volume of Torah. Openness to hearing the voice of someone else and being called is not something to be lost in translation.

 Shabbat  Shalom.

 *Guitar Shabbat with Yehudah on the Bima tomorrow evening from 6:00-7:00 p.m.with Oneg to follow. Come celebrate Shabbat!

**  Purim  on Weds. March 23. Free pizza to those in costume  5:30-6:15p.m. ($4 per person to those not in costume).

**Megillah reading and Hamantaschen 6:15-7:15 p.m.

Prizes for best costume and MOST CREATIVE Grogger !

***Israeli movie Sunday March 27, 6:30 p.m. - Kazablan- a comedic musical somewhat in the spirit of West Side Story. $5 at the door. Bring a friend or two to the Shul for the movie. Let’s laugh together!

Shabbat Thoughts-Parshat Pekudei

We remember our past.  Some of us keep clothes worn by family and friends or visit their favorite places. Some of us quote favorite sayings and melodies; perpetuating our loved ones years after they are gone. Sharing recipes and stories, even sitting in a particular chair, all link us to our past, whether it be recent or long-ago. The key is to act in our present in such a manner as to honor the memories of our loved ones.

     Jewish tradition bears many methods of remembering our loved ones;  giving tzedakah to causes that mattered to them, saying Kaddish on a Yahrzeit, kindling a memorial candle and naming children after  a beloved relative are but a few. Notice that these methods are acts. We seek to remember by doing something. Memory is not enough. Memory needs to be made tangible in order to serve its goal. When we do not actualize memory, it merely drifts away.

     This week’s Parshah details the last phase of preparing special garments for Aaron and his sons. Beautifully-dyed fabrics formed the first layer of ritual garb. Garments fashioned with golden thread and adorned with jewels comprised the second layer. A shield of 12 precious stones with the names of the tribes engraved thereupon was placed upon Aaron’s chest, symbolically attaching the names of Israel to his heart. What a sight it must have been!   

     Special epaulettes adorned Aaron’s shoulders. Two large onyx stones were engraved with six tribal names. Surprisingly, these two specific stones are named ‘Memory stones’ and the shield upon Aaron’s heart is not identified in any way. I wonder why. Perhaps it is easy to associate memory with the heart and it was not necessary to label the shield thusly. But, as Aaron dressed himself, he needed to remember for whom he was conducting the ceremony. It is easy to get caught up in pageantry and pomp. It is difficult to remember for whom the pageantry is being conducted. I wonder how we would act if we all wore initials of the names of our loved ones as we dressed for special circumstances. Would our behavior be holier if we were actively remembering the people dependent upon us?

Shabbat  Shalom.

*Arad is on the Bima tomorrow evening!(Friday March 11) Oneg refreshments to follow. 6:00-7:00 p.m. Please join us to hear a special message from the MAJF shaliach!

    

   ** Join us for cookies and fruit in the Chapel during the Saturday morning service. We are proclaiming Chazak! We are finishing the Book of Exodus! Stand with us and ensure a minyan!

 (Coffee beforehand and lunch to follow).

Shabbat Thoughts- March 3, 2016

Recently, the World Trade Center’s new transportation depot opened. A soaring structure, its arms reach out to the heavens. Presented as a bird preparing to fly, many dozens of designers, engineers and architects worked for many months to craft a structure that would be memorable, beautiful and inspirational. Some have held that the structure is beautiful and others have criticized it for its shape and its design.

     About 18 months ago Manette and I visited Ground Zero and took the opportunity to experience the Memorial. While waiting to enter, the skeleton of this great bird was before us. I would not say I immediately fell in love with its form. Having looked at the pictures now revealed to us all, I do see its beauty. The goal of these many designers working in tandem is to ‘take’ people ‘somewhere’ while transporting many thousands of individuals to many different locations. Without working collectively, there would be no means of transferring people from point A to point B and sending them aloft as they begin or end their journeys.

      In this week’s Torah Portion (Vayakhel) we have a description of the original worship structure built by and for ancient Israel. Great emphasis is given to the collaborative efforts of many people working together. Women and men are described as crafting, weaving, designing, building and beautifying the tabernacle (Mishkan).

     Obviously the leader, Betzalel, is credited with much of the work and delegating specific labors and projects to those capable of fulfilling those projects. But, it was a group effort. It was only due the entire community’s investment that everybody could feel that he or she was ‘going somewhere’.

     The challenge and the opportunity are still before us, even today. In fact, we are ahead of the ancient Israelites because the structure has already been completed. Instead of focusing on the building let’s all look for the people who comprise the community. How do we all ‘get somewhere together’?

May we each meditate upon helping each other soar over this Shabbat.

Shabbat shalom.

Rabbi Steven Silberman

Benji Lovitt