12:00pm Mishnah Class on Zoom; 6:00pmKabbalat Shabbat Service on Zoom
Sat.
Oct 31
9:00amSpanish Services on Zoom; 10:00amShabbat Services on Zoom
Sun.
Nov 1
9:00am Davening on Zoom; 9:30amMaimonides Class on Zoom; 10:00am Religious School
Wed.
Nov 4
12:00pmMishnah Class on Zoom; 4:30pmReligious School
Thu.
Nov 5
12:00pmMishnah Class on Zoom
Fri.
Nov 6
12:00pmMishnah Class on Zoom; 6:00pmKabbalat Shabbat Services on Zoom
Sat.
Nov 7
9:00amSpanish Services on Zoom; 10:00amShabbat Services on Zoom
Sun.
Nov 8
9:00am Davening on Zoom; 9:30amMaimonides Class on Zoom; 10:00am Religious School; 12:30pmTBS-EV Board Meeting
Lech Lecha
God said to Abram, “Go forth from your land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you” (Gen 12:1). The journey of the Jewish people begins with this command to leave everything we know behind, to journey into an entirely unknown land, trusting in God to send us somewhere we would flourish.
Rashi (10th century France) taught that Lech Lecha- Go forth- is written so as to mean that Abram should go forth for himself, for his own benefit and good. Imbedded in this command to take an enormous risk is the promise of a good outcome. Clearly, God does not see Abram staying where he is, with the world he inhabited, as viable for his future as the father of many nations. And in responding, Abram clearly agrees with God’s assessment that it is time to upend everything in the hope of something better.
Yet I cannot imagine that Abram, asked to leave everything and everyone he knew for a new land, was without the anxiety that comes from a new adventure. Uncertainty is fundamentally terrifying and exciting in equal measure- but not knowing what is to come remains an essential component of creativity and novelty. We cannot have better without being willing to risk loss. We cannot have good without willing to risk a bad outcome.
Our country, and our society, is in a state of great uncertainty. No matter where one might stand on the political spectrum, none of us know what the future will hold with any certainty. There is more up in the air with regard to our health, our economy, and our world, than at any time in my life so far. Yet I take great comfort in knowing that it is in these places of uncertainty and difficulty that the greatest opportunities for a new and better world can emerge.
As the society in which we live moves toward November 3rd and, God willing, speedy and clear results of our national and local elections, may we bear some of Abraham’s bravery and confidence that whatever comes next will be for the good. What is more, may we each have the courage and the strength to help birth a better and more loving world with each opportunity presented to us in the days to come.
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;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; Tracy McClellan; Rachel Yehudit bat Rifkah; Nechama bat Malka, mother of Barbara Gold;Phillip Skirboll.
Rose Levin, mother of Saul Levin Edith Cullen, mother of Corrine Brooks Sarah Rosenberg, grandmother of Jack Rosenberg M.G. Berney, father of Michele Millman Hal Gold, father of Barbara Gold Milton Guren, father of Roberta Rosenberg and
father-in-law of Jack Rosenberg Alan Wechsler, father of Joe Wechsler Gerri Flynn, sister of Roberta Rosenberg
HaMakom yenakhem etkhem b'tokh she'ar avelei Tzion Virushalayim.
May God comfort you together with all the other mourners of Zion and Jerusalem