I have been thinking a lot this past week about the word yes. Giving assent, agreement, even within our silence.
Rabbi Mendel Torum of Rymanov taught: Only the first letter of the commandments, the aleph of anokhi, “I am,” was spoken by the Divine voice. Aleph signifies the number One, referring to the unity of all in God, in Godness. That sufficed. All the rest, Rabbi Torum taught, is our humanly transmitted commentaries. All they (who?) heard (and will hear) was the aleph of anochi. This teaching clearly suggests that the mysterious “am’ness” of the Divine Oneness can only be understood as we humans wrestle meaning out of silence.
And so I invite us to gather and consider how we understand our own holy silence. How do we say yes to being Jewish, doing Jewish? What does this mean to us individually and collectively? Throughout Shabbat on June 4th and into our Tikkun le’il Sunday evening, June 5th, I hope we will be able to bring some of our thoughts forward for us all to consider. We stand at Sinai, each and every day; let’s just say YES.
With love, l’chaim,
Rabbi Lynn
Bechukotai
May 23, 2022 by Rabbi Lynn Greenhough • From the Rabbi's Desk
I have been thinking a lot this past week about the word yes. Giving assent, agreement, even within our silence.
Rabbi Mendel Torum of Rymanov taught: Only the first letter of the commandments, the aleph of anokhi, “I am,” was spoken by the Divine voice. Aleph signifies the number One, referring to the unity of all in God, in Godness. That sufficed. All the rest, Rabbi Torum taught, is our humanly transmitted commentaries. All they (who?) heard (and will hear) was the aleph of anochi. This teaching clearly suggests that the mysterious “am’ness” of the Divine Oneness can only be understood as we humans wrestle meaning out of silence.
And so I invite us to gather and consider how we understand our own holy silence. How do we say yes to being Jewish, doing Jewish? What does this mean to us individually and collectively? Throughout Shabbat on June 4th and into our Tikkun le’il Sunday evening, June 5th, I hope we will be able to bring some of our thoughts forward for us all to consider. We stand at Sinai, each and every day; let’s just say YES.
With love, l’chaim,
Rabbi Lynn