11:30am Tefillah Class on Zoom; 6:00pm Kabbalat Shabbat Services on Zoom
Sat.
Jun 13
9:00am Spanish Services on Zoom; 10:00am Shabbat Services on Zoom
Sun.
Jun 14
9:00am Davening on Zoom; 9:30amMaimonides Class on Zoom; 12:30pm TBS-EV Board Meeting on Zoom; 6:00pmHelen Cherner Memorial on Zoom
Mon.
Jun 15
11:30am A Little Mishnah on Zoom
Wed.
Jun 17
11:30amA Little Mishnah on Zoom
Fri.
Jun 19
11:30am Tefillah Class on Zoom; 6:00pm Family Kabbalat Shabbat Service on Zoom
Sat.
Jun 20
9:00am Spanish Services on Zoom; 10:00am Shabbat Services on Zoom, Bar Mitzvah of Brennan Kenville.
Sun.
Jun 21
9:00am Davening on Zoom; 9:30am Maimonides Class on Zoom
Rabbi's D'var Torah
Taking a step back from the many society shaking events of the last weeks, I have found myself ruminating on the connection between the name of this week’s parsha, Beha’alotcha, and it’s content.
The word beha’alotcha draws on the root Ayin-Lamed-Heh, more recognizable to many as the root for aliyah. This root is tied to the idea of ascending, going up, or rising. Beha’alotcha here means “put up”, “affix” or “mount”, referring specifically to the lamps in the Tabernacle and their placement.
But that is not the only “rising up” in this week’s reading, or the most significant. Later in the text, we read of the signal system that God puts in place to guide the Israelites on their way with a cloud that ascends and descends over the Tabernacle at different times.
When the cloud is down around the Tabernacle, it is time to stay put. The Israelites are to make camp and stay there as long as the cloud remains down. But when the cloud rises above the Tabernacle, the Israelites are to pack up and move on, following the cloud throughout their journeys.
This cloud is often understood to be a manifestation or representation of God’s Presence, a physical reminder that God is among the people in their journeys and centered in the Tabernacle itself. The symbol of the cloud as proof of God’s tangible presence is, itself, an apparent contradiction resolved in its efficacy. Even in the middle of the desert, every Israelite could look up and see whether or not it was time to move, and always know that God was with them. To have such a permeable yet concrete reminder of the Divine Presence must have been a powerful source of comfort and certainty in an otherwise uncertain world.
Alas, we do not merit such certainties in our time and place. Indeed, the world around us is still full of uncertainty and danger both visible and invisible. But, I think, there is still something to be learned from the cloud whether or not we can see it before us.
At times, we need to know it is okay to stop and rest. That God will dwell with us, wherever we are, and give us the opportunity to recover and restore ourselves safely even in the wilderness. We cannot always be pursuing God, and knowing this, God will wait with us to resume the pursuit.
Simultaneously, however, we must always be ready to answer the call, to follow the cloud when it is time to move. The same symbol of comfort and rest, when it rises, is also our signal to act. To center our sense of rest and action in the same permeable, concrete evidence of God’s presence is a lesson in itself. The care required to give oneself rest and recovery should be the same source of care for others, the motive for action and inaction in appropriate measure. There is no easy balance, no unquestioning guidance today for how we should proceed on any given day like our ancestors had wandering in the desert. But still, we must look up and seek the cloud for God’s guidance, and do our best to act when necessary and rest when needed.
May we all merit the wisdom to know which is which, and may we find the rest and engagement we need to live up to God’s commands.
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Please donate your used printer cartridges. Place your used cartridges in the box located on the counter in the Administration Office. We have been paying for most of our office supplies for several years through the money we get from recycling printer cartridges. Please help us keep this worthwhile endeavor going.
The Sisterhood of TBS-EV is collecting old eyeglasses and lenses to be donated to the Lions Club. There are donation containers waiting to be filled in the Sanctuary, Social Hall and Administration Office.
Save the Family has asked for help to transition families into homes. Current household product needs include: toilet paper, paper towels/napkins, shampoo & conditioner, toothpaste & brushes, deodorant, mouthwash, body lotion, body wash, diapers--particularly size 4, baby wipes, feminine hygiene products, all-purpose cleanser/comet/etc., laundry detergent/bleach/dryer sheets/fabric softener. There is a bin in the Office. Please help this worthy community service.
Prayers are needed for Chaim Laib ben Esther, brother of Walter Berkey; Alexander Moshe HaLevi ben Rivkah, father of Regina Fischer; Rivkah bat Rachel, grandmother of Regina Fischer; Brenda Carson, sister of Rebecca Toledo;Bruce Steffens (Avram ben Shlomo), nephew of Helen Cherner;Philip Logan Cherner, grandson of Helen Cherner;Donnie Carson, brother-in-law of Rebecca Toledo; Sandy Dunell, friend of Helen Cherner; Laramie Gilberts, friend of Helen Cherner; Roberta Rosenberg (Rivkah Fradel bat Sara);Shimson ben Etel, father of Florence Wibel; Irene Simpkins (Yocheved bat Miriam); Barbara Tricoci (Baila bat Rifka); Elazear ben Dreisyl; Eric Taylor; Sid Brodsky (Zundel Be'er ben Esther); Linda Heartquist;Allen Simon (Aaron Hirsch ben Ceil); Charles Collins; Larry Steffens; Megan Steffens;Brittany Steffens; Carol Osman Brown, friend of Linda Radke; Rijon Erickson; Chano Ruven ben Shaina Chaya; Matthew Werdean, friend of Regina Fischer; David ben Sarah, father of Rabbi Aberson; Jack Heller; Liba Yetta bat Tova; Ilana bat Bella, sister of Ruti Keren; David Ramirez, brother of Louis Ramirez; Pasha bat Fayge, friend of Gloria Windmiller; Moshe ben Hana, brother-in-law of Ruti Keren; HaRav Haim Baruch ben Chana; Lyle Cherner, son of Helen Cherner; Raphael ben Rebekah, friend of Alan Sapakie; Jack Rosenberg (Ya'acov Avram ben Sarah Ruchel); Walter Berkey (Yossel Velvel ben Esther); Warren Stern (Binyamin ben Meyer Rav); Jennifer Dally, partner of Maggie Diamond; Rose Tufarelli; Sarah Caliandro (Sarah Nechama bat Leah); Ingrid Gallegos; Chaim Shneur Zalman Yehuda ben Hinda Yocheved; Debora Tivona bat Sarah;Alex Shekhel;Avraham ben Chaya Udel.
Elayne Butler, sister of David Butler Sam Colodner, brother of Charles Colodner David Weiss, grandfather of Linda Radke Mollie Garr, grandmother of Barbara Fisher Steven Warren Kaplow, brother-in-law of Charlotte Miller Bertram Wollner, father of Debra Wollner Lawrence Goldman, father of Carole Gates Fred Newman, father of Lisa Adamsen Lillian Ackerman, grandmother of Leslie Feldman Abraham Fishman, father of Miriam Libman Freda Newman, grandmother of Olivia Finkel Samuel Etkin, grandfather of Leslie Feldman Lottie Goldstein, mother of Elliott Goldstein Ida Ziv, mother of Alan Ziv
HaMakom yenakhem etkhem b'tokh she'ar avelei Tzion Virushalayim.
May God comfort you together with all the other mourners of Zion and Jerusalem
