What a week of blessing we have had, with more to come. Being in a community like Kolot Mayim is very much like being in that flowing river that Charlotte Marcovitz mentioned in her d’var about her parashah: Balaam sings in a poem to the nation Israel: “How goodly are your tents O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel, stretching out like brooks, like gardens by a river, like aloes planted by God, like cedars by water.” All these plants from aloe to cedar reach for mayim, for waters, as our souls reach with thirst for connection with the Divine and with each other.
These “waters” that sustain us can only continue to delight and refresh us with much needed sustenance – if we provide good stewardship. We have had several occasions recently to witness multi-generational love and guidance during a simcha, with grandparents celebrating alongside parents and siblings. A few tears were shed on these occasions!
A few tears do not a river make, but each tear opens a heart, an opening into life. I can remember my mother hauling buckets of water to each tiny cedar sapling as she worked to secure life for her cedar hedge until all roots were well-established. Bucket by bucket by heavy bucket she hauled water to sustain those saplings. And her labour worked; her vision of a strong and healthy hedge was rewarded; soon those roots took a strong hold and were able to reach into the earth for their source of life.
Being in a community can seem like hauling heavy buckets of water some days. And other days we feel refreshed by the waters of love and connection. So many members of Kolot Mayim ensure our buckets are carried, and our saplings are nourished. Thank you all.
This week let’s try to make a blessing on every glass of water we drink to help us remember how fragile and how necessary mayim chayim, these waters of life are to our very existence.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְ‑יָ אֱ‑לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם שֶׁהַכֹּל נִהְיָה בִּדְבָרוֹ:
Baruch atah A-donay, Elo-heinu Melech Ha’Olam shehakol nihiyah bed’varo.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, by Whose word all things came to be.
I look out onto our back porch and marvel again at this conjunction of joyous seasons. Our sukkah is up and colorful with hanging fabric walls, flowers, banana plant leaves and palm branches, a lulav and Etrog are awaiting to be shaken on the first morning of Sukkot – which also happens to be Canadian Thanksgiving.
Lech Lecha
October 30, 2022 by Rabbi Lynn Greenhough • From the Rabbi's Desk
In Lech Lecha we meet Avram and Sarai, these two individuals who follow God’s command to leave their homeland and go to the land they (hope) they will know. Eventually their names will be change to Avraham and Sarah – each of them taking on a letter from one of the names we hold for the Divine Presence.
Lech Lecha follows immediately on the story of the tower of Babel where the peoples disobey God’s intentions and attempt to build towers into the heavens. In their hubris, wanting to unify and coalesce, rather than disperse through all lands speaking differing languages, they disobey God.More