This week, we turn the scrolls back all the way to the first lines of our Torah. The High Holidays are done, our Sukkot are no longer needed, and our preparations in September are now ready to be packed away until next year when we start the cycle all over again. I often find myself at this time of year taking advantage of the relative calm- no more services to prepare for, no more meals to plan, everything returning to a semblance of calm until it is time to prepare for Hanukkah celebrations. While Rosh Hashanah is a celebration of a new year, in truth I believe the real beginning happens now that the excitement and energy of Tishrei give way to the daily routines of late Fall and early Winter.
What do we do now that the madness has passed? What do we want our “normal” to look like? How do we bring the changes we committed to in the heat of holiday intensity forward into days and weeks without anything externally remarkable to remind us?
“In beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen 1:1).
Every beginning is a moment to make a change in the direction of our lives, to make new and better choices than what drove us before. This new year is, like all new years, filled with potential and possibility.
“The earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from God sweeping over the water” (Gen 1:2).
While every moment is a chance to make changes, the choices we have made before influence the choices that are laid before us now. But the potential for novel, for different, for better, is always there waiting for us to find it and act upon it. That potential is at once terrifying and glorious- if there is no real certainty of what the next moment will bring, what our next actions are, then how do we know that it will end in a way that we want it to?
“God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” (Gen 1:3)
But the certainty of outcomes is, by itself, an illusion. We can only know who we are, and what has happened before. What is to be is only understandable as probability, as possibility. It is that very uncertainty that makes a future possible at all. In order for us to move forward, we must choose in each moment to do so without guarantee. That is how light is made, and that is how we embrace each opportunity.
“God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.” (Gen 1:4).
Even God needed to act in order to see that the result was Good. Even God needed to choose in order for the next moment of Creation to occur. And only in choosing could distinctions between what could be, and what is, possible.
We learn from Midrash Genesis Rabbah that even this world is but one of many- “Rabbi Judah b. R. Simon said: “Let there be evening” is not written here, but “And there was evening”; hence we know that a time-order existed before this. Rabbi Abahu said: “This proves that the Holy One, blessed be He, went on creating worlds and destroying them until He created this one, and declared, ‘This one pleases Me; those did not please Me.'” (Genesis III:7)
So this is my charge, my blessing, my challenge for all of us. Go forth and create worlds- make new worlds and see what they produce. Let yourself create something new, something different, something better than what has been before. As creatures made in God’s image, we are blessed with this power to see our potential and to make something of it.
May our hands be strong, our hearts full, our eyes, sharp, and may this world we create together be Good in our eyes, and in God’s.
Shabbat Shalom.
The Week at a Glance:
Fri.
Oct 16
12:00pm Tefillah Class on Zoom; 6:00pm Family Kabbalat Services on Zoom
Sat.
Oct 17
9:00am Spanish Services on Zoom; 10:00am Shabbat Services on Zoom
Sun.
Oct 18
9:00amDavening on Zoom; 9:30am Maimonides Class on Zoom; 10:00am Religious School; 12:30pmTBS-EV Board Meeting on Zoom
Wed.
Oct 21
12:00pmNo Mishnah Class; 4:30pm Religious School
Thu.
Oct 22
12:00pm No Mishnah Class
Fri.
Oct 23
12:00pmMishnah Class on Zoom; 6:00pm Kabbalat Shabbat Services on Zoom
Sat.
Oct 24
9:00am Spanish Services on Zoom; 10:00am Shabbat Services on Zoom
Sun.
Oct 25
9:00am Davening on Zoom; 9:30am Maimonides Class on Zoom; 10:00am Religious School
Please watch this video about our fundraising event scheduled for Friday - Sunday October 23 - 25. Its a lot of fun for couples, singles, or for the whole family! A portion of your golf game will be donated to Temple Beth Sholom (Just mention TBSEV or Temple Beth Sholom) This facility is family owned therefore social distancing and masks are necessary. Customers are spread out 2 holes apart from each other. (Golf holes are scored using a cellphone app.).
Prayers are needed for Chaim Laib ben Esther, brother of Walter Berkey; Alexander Moshe HaLevi ben Rivkah, father of Regina Fischer; Brenda Carson, sister of Rebecca Toledo;Donnie Carson, brother-in-law of Rebecca Toledo; 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);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; Raphael ben Rebekah, friend of Alan Sapakie; Jack Rosenberg (Ya'acov Avram ben Sarah Ruchel); Walter Berkey (Yossel Velvel ben Esther); Rose Tufarelli; Sarah Caliandro (Sarah Nechama bat Leah); Ingrid Gallegos; Chaim Shneur Zalman Yehuda ben Hinda Yocheved; Alex Shekhel;Avraham ben Chaya Udel;Mordechai Shimon ben Sarah, brother of Roberta Rosenberg; Chana Nassia bat Civia; Aharon Shmuel bat Tzinyah; Lynne Lieberman (Leah bat Meir HaCohen); Yedidah Sarah bat Shayna Bracha, friend of Scott and Mara Jaffa; Juliette Harvey (Zarie bat Esther), Annie Jimenez; Sophie Tening, friend of Helen Jaffa; Rut bat Bella; Nechama bat Esther, mother of Barbara Gold;Tracy McClellan.
Rubin Halperin, father of Shelly Begel Louise Shapiro, mother of David Shapiro Simon Mayer Levi, father of Maggie Diamond Norman Shapiro, father of David Shapiro Pauline Weinstein, mother of Barbara Steel Jack Butler, father of David Butler Amy Simone Thoreau, sister of Isaac Levy
It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Esther Magier (Ester bat Vichea Pearl v' Yakub), mother of Sid Brodsky.
Notes of Condolence may be sent to Sid at 1831 E. Apache Blvd. #1157, Tempe, AZ 85281. The family appreciates the thoughts and prayers of the community during this very difficult time.
HaMakom yenakhem etkhem b'tokh she'ar avelei Tzion Virushalayim.
May God comfort you together with all the other mourners of Zion and Jerusalem