This week, we start reading the Torah from the beginning. Literally. Bereishit - the beginning of time.
Each year, we complete the cycle, only to start it up again. Why? Once we've heard the stories, studied the laws, celebrated the holidays, why the need to put this song on repeat?
How many times can you read your favorite novel, watch your favorite series, or eat at your favorite restaurant? Isn't it time to put this one down for a while?
The key to this mystery is happening this week. The World Series.
Each year at Spring Training the teams begin an exacting regimen of preparation. Each year on Opening Day, the players suit up in their uniforms. For 162 games, they show up to the stadium for nine innings of play. And each October, the nation watches as the best teams face off in a battle of wills and skills.
And whether it's the most decorated team, or it's the Chicago Cubs with a 108-year dearth of championships, one thing is clear. Every team shows up, ready to give it their all. Each year, and in fact, each game, has the potential for unprecedented excitement, historic achievements, unforeseen twists and turns. Pundits, players, and fans find newfound enthusiasm over and over again.
It's Opening Day. The Torah is back in play for another season. Give it your best shot. If your team didn't succeed in finding meaning in the Religious School of your youth, now is your chance. If you've heard it all already, show up in your freshly pressed jersey, knowing that with this game, there is always a surprise.
A curveball of a question to lob at the Rabbi, a groundout of something that you thought you knew all about, the thrill of playing a different team today, or perhaps a homerun message that will resonate with your life.
Wednesday, the season begins with a fascinating new course called Torah Studies that will challenge what you already knew, inform you on things that you didn't, and breath new life into this timeless pastime. It's the bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, with 2 outs. And you're at bat.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Dovid Bush
From the Rabbi's Desk
World Series Thoughts
Eat, Read, Or Play
An incredible and uplifting Yom Kippur in Petaluma. Thank you to all who joined and made it the special Yom Kippur it was. May we carry the energy and inspiration with us throughout the year.
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Sukkot is fast approaching. Sunday night we welcome one of my favorite holidays. We sit in the Sukkah under the starry night sky, eating a festive holiday meal, schmoozing, enjoying each other's company.
It's a unique Mitzvah, not limited by the usual parameters of when, what, and how. Day or night. Eat in the Sukkah, read a book, play a game, or even sleep.
And it's not associated with a particular body part, such as hand (charity), mouth (kosher), mind (study), or feet (going to visit the sick). Rather, it's this all-encompassing experience, performed with our entire self, simply by being.
The message is that we shouldn't limit it to the Synagogue, in the specific environment and elevated time of Yom Kippur. Let's find ways to express ourselves Jewishly throughout the year, at home, at work, and at play. In the most random areas of our lives. The all-encompassing Sukkah experience.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Dovid Bush
The Magic of Yom Kippur
What an incredible Rosh Hashanah! Packed house for the community dinner, uplifting services, and a great crowd for Tashlich! Nearly 100 people participated throughout the holiday, and it was an honor to be a part of it.
Mazal Tov to our High Holiday cantor Levi (Devorah's cousin), who flew back to NY right after Rosh Hashanah to propose to Chanie. She said yes! (Yes, he will be back for Yom Kippur!)
How does Yom Kippur work? What is the magic of the day? Why do so many choose to participate?
The answer (in an email nutshell) is:
In a relationship, we connect by what we do. Washing the dishes, taking out the trash, buying a gift, doing the groceries.
But there is a much deeper connection, that amid all the activity of life, we tend to forget about. The essential unbreakable connection that supersedes any particular do and don't. Sharing a moment together. Just because we are in a relationship.
Yom Kippur is that hug. When we strip away all the extras, and connect soul to soul.
Please join us for an inspiring and relatable Yom Kippur. Whether for the soulful recital of the Kol Nidrei, the cleansing prayers in the morning, or my personal highlight - Ne'ilah, the "closing of the gates" service and the grand shofar blast at the very end, followed by a deluxe break-fast.
Simply RSVP here.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Dovid Bush