It’s different this year. Very different. The Torah was given in the Desert. Millions of us were there. Every year after that, we gathered, to relive that moment. In the desert Sanctuary, in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, in Shuls, and in Jewish schools. This Friday and Shabbat, the same spiritual energy will be here. We’ll receive the Torah again. But this time it will be at home. Here's a "silver lining" to a solitary Shavuot: The Ten Commandments are written in singular form. Because although there were millions of people present, each one felt that G-d is speaking to them alone! It was a one-on-one personal type of connection, between each individual Jew and G-d! Celebrating this event alone at home provides perhaps the setting to try and capture the "individuality" of the event; G-d will surely be right there in your home offering you His Torah anew. One on one. Just you and your G-d! Now, that's a sweet thought. From our family to yours, we wish you a happy, healthy and meaningful Shavuot holiday. May we merit to receive the Torah with joy and inner personal meaning.
From the Rabbi's Desk
Happy Shavuot!
Celebrating the Food or the Moment?
We've done this so many times. Whether it's celebrating the Passover Seder, lighting the Menorah, or hearing the Ten Commandments. The food tastes delightful (although the Matzah can be a bit crunchy), the company great, but what about the holiday? Are we celebrating food (Devorah's is always worth being celebrated), or does the food help us celebrate a timeless moment? But even if we focus on the essence of the celebration, isn't a "been there, done that" situation? So we got out of Egypt, Mount Sinai was a miraculous display, but after 3,332 years, doesn't it get a bit stale? The opening words of the Big Ten are "I am Hashem, your G-d, who took you out of Egypt". Now in English, you is the same as you, whether I'm talking to a crowd or having a private conversation. In Hebrew, however, there is a nuance between the singular and plural versions of you. And here, we find out that the Ten Commandments (and the Torah and our heritage as a whole) were not just given to a nation gathered around the foot of Mt Sinai, but to each and every individual. It's a personal relationship. Now in most years, we might get distracted by the cheesecake and ice cream (which have their own beautiful significance - and we have a special surprise for our families this week - click for details). This year, for the most part, our Shavuot experience, our celebration of receiving the Torah (Friday, May 29th) will be a personal one. So explore your role, invest in your journey, seize this unique moment and make it count. So while, we hope and pray that this is all soo behind us, and that we can return to communal celebrations, keep in mind that it always has been just that - personal.
Mother’s Day without Mother
First Mother's Day without mother. Her first yarhtzeit (anniversary of passing) is Wednesday.
The truth is, that while Mother's Day is a great way to appreciate our amazing moms, it's simply an opportunity, but certainly not a limitation. Moms are far more important than a single day out of the year. They tirelessly invest in our wellbeing, sleepless nights, lunchboxes packed with love, walking us to the bus stop with a prayer that we have a safe and successful day.
The Ten Commandments are split into two segments the ones related to the divine, and the interpersonal relationships. Honoring our parents is firmly placed in the divine category. Because what our parents offer us; life, stability, and love, is in the realm of the divine, and deserves recognition every.
So while I may not be able to send flowers to my mom on Sunday, I know that she is here. In me. The divine is timeless, and so is her Neshama (soul). Her investment of energy, nurture, care, and love, live on through me. And hopefully, I can do her proud.
So as we appreciate moms across the community with bouquets of flowers, I know that my mom would approve.
To my mom, to Devorah, and to all the moms out there, Happy Mother's Day!
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This photo of the Passover Seder is NOT from last month!!! It was taken last
night in Israel.
Today is "Pesach Sheni"- the "Second Passover." It is the Jewish day of "second chances" because in Judaism - there is always a second chance.
What is the story behind Eli Beer's Passover Seder in May?
Two weeks ago, when Eli Beer woke up from his coma, he asked: When is Pesach?
No one had the heart to tell him that Passover had already come and gone.
Beer, the founder of United Hatzalah, a worldwide volunteer ambulance corp, had been hospitalized in Miami after contracting the Coronavirus there. Sedated, in a coma for over a month, he miraculously woke up to a renewed life.
Back in Israel where he resides with his family, Beer told the Israeli media that it was inconceivable to him that Passover had come and gone, and that he had not celebrated.
"How can a Jew miss Pesach?" Beer reflected.
In a coma for the whole duration of Pesach, he wanted a second chance.
Conventional wisdom maintains: "Opportunity does not knock twice," but Judaism teaches us not to give up even when all seems lost. Passover actually has a follow-up, a "second chances" holiday, called Pesach Sheni, the second Passover. This holiday was created after the Exodus, back in the desert, on the anniversary of the first Passover. A group of Jews who were ritually impure were not able to perform the Passover offering in its proper time. Not wanting to be left out of this important mitzvah, they requested of Moses that they be given a second chance.
There is a tradition to eat Matzah today, and more importantly, contemplate the power the Torah gives us to always have a second chance.
It is never too late to connect more to family members, to our community and to G-d.
This lockdown brings with it many challenges, but also many golden opportunities to repair the broken. Whether it be in our personality traits, in relationships with our loved ones or friends, in our connection to G-d - this time of isolation breeds introspection and the ability for correction.
Just like Eli, we can have a second chance.
What is Center Stage?
It's always been this way. It's just clearer now than ever.
Center stage of Jewish Life is not the Synagogue. There, I said it. You heard
it from a Rabbi. Now, don't get me wrong. It is important. It is a place where we gather, we pray, where a young thirteen-year-old is called to the Torah for the first time. It's where we connect as a community, it's like a glue that binds us together. But it's not center stage.
Center stage is the Jewish Home. It is in the home where parents teach their children to kiss the Mezuzah on the doorpost evoking fondness; place coins in a charity box fostering kindness; recite the Shema before bedtime affirming faith. It is in the home where the family takes a day out of their week to celebrate Shabbat together. The Jewish kitchen plays a central role in every holiday, in thinking about what we consume and why, and cultivating generosity and hospitality.
The Jewish home is the heartbeat of Judaism. Without which, there's no Bar Mitzvah to celebrate, no Torah to lift high, and no community to bring together.
So while we miss our Shul, let's utilize this opportunity to focus on our at-home Jewishness. Like the 40 plus Shabbos packages that will be gracing tables around Petaluma. If exercise our Jewish at-home muscle, you can be sure that we will rebound from this temporary situation, springing back into exhilarating celebration, synchronized hearts bursting into unified dancing to the tune of a packed Shul.
So join Devorah, her six sisters, and mom next week as they host a cooking show across time zones, and guide us in how to bring some Jewish flavor and color into our home.
