Sukkot
Dear friends,
Chag sameach everyone, the Festival of Sukkot begins Monday evening, and the last day we celebrate is with Simchat Torah, Wednesday, September 29th. What a month this has been and continues to be!
Rabbi Lynn Greenhough
About Rabbi Lynn Greenhough
Posts by Rabbi Lynn Greenhough:
Kever Avot
I am writing this as I prepare to leave for Kever Avot, a ritual of remembering all those beloved to us who have died this past year and beyond.
Kever Avot goes back really to the beginning of time, along with the construction of headstones, tombs and memorials to the dead. This past Shabbat was the 20th anniversary of 9/11, a time of collective remembering for those of us alive then.
Ki Tavo
Ki Tavo – we shift from “when you leave” last week to “when you come in” this week. And we are instructed as to what we should do when we come into the Land – which is our inheritance, our nachalah. Coincidentally, on Shabbat morning there were a number of articles in the paper about inheritance – should children of wealthy parents inherit that wealth – or not? Is inheritance something achieved after the fact or do we ready ourselves for an inheritance prior to the fact?
Ki Tetzei
What a beautiful Shabbat service we had this past Saturday morning. Our very own Mishpachah Torontow was present in person and on Zoom to celebrate Joshua being called to Torah. Joshua and Katie Marr have both dedicated themselves to learning over this past year+ and that learning culminated in our class having its first Shabbat dinner together on Friday night, being at shul on Shabbat and then moving back into learning gears on Sunday morning. What an honour it is for me to be in this cycle of joyful learning with so many people.More
Shoftim
We are now in Elul – a month away from Rosh Hashanah, a time of looking into new beginnings, and a time of shedding past hurts and misunderstandings. A time to blow the shofar every morning (beginning Monday, except Shabbat), the plaintive wail of the shofar opening our hearts.
This Shabbat we welcome Katie Marr and Joshua Torontow to be called to Torah for the first time, an occasion of great spiritual joy and communal significance. Every time someone steps forward to stand with us, to join the people of Israel, it is also a time for each of us to re-assess our own standing. Katie and Joshua, we are very moved by your decision to join us.
Shoftim, our parashah this week, opens – “Judges and officers shall you appoint in all your cities…” Historically, in every Jewish community there was an autonomous self-governing court of judges, a Beit Din, that would sit and assess various cases, from misdemeanors to divorces. This week we had two judges, dayanim, who sat with me for a Beit Din for conversion for our two candidates.
But the judges must be worthy to sit on such a court, (as they most certainly are); “… you shall not show favouritism, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe will blind the eyes of the wise and it will corrupt words that are just.”
Torah is teaching us in all our dealings, whether we sit on a Beit Din, or conduct our everyday business, we should be acting with righteousness. Tzedek, tzedek tirdof. Righteousness, righteousness, you shall pursue. Our rabbis teach us that as we approach hashamayim – Jewish heaven! – we will be asked an unusual question. Were you fair in all your business dealings?” In many ways virtually all of life is transactional. Our life is our business. This is a very high standard to uphold – thank goodness for Elul.
I wish all of us good health and meaningful reflections during this month as we come up to Rosh Hashanah.
Kein yihe ratzon,
Rabbi Lynn
Re’eh
We had such a wonderful Shabbat morning this past week; Ben Louwrier read Torah, led part of the service as he celebrated his Bar Mitzvah. What pride we all feel as our young people step up to the bimah and say proudly, “I am a Jew.” A blessing for us all. Mazal tov to Ben and to the entire Louwrier family.
Balak
This is my final message for the season, as I am on holiday during July. Balak is an interesting Torah reading with which to say adieu.
We open our morning services with the words “Mah tovu, ohalecha Yaakov…words recited by the non-Jewish sorcerer Balaam when he viewed the tents in the valley below him. He could only recite words of praise for their presence, instead of the curses he had been hired to project over the Israelites. These are comforting words and welcome words.
Korach
This week, in Parashat Korach, Korach and a small group of Israelite leaders openly challenge the authority of Moses and Aaron. They begin with a plea for Moses to recognize the burden he has assumed, “It is too much for you!” they exclaim but then continue with words far more accusatory…”all are holy and God is among them; why do you exalt yourselves over the congregation of God?”
Bereshit
September 26, 2021 by Rabbi Lynn Greenhough • From the Rabbi's Desk Tags: bereshit •
A week of beginnings, and Kabbalat Shabbat brings us into the beginnings of Torah – full circle from the final line in Devarim “… and with all the strong hand and with all the great fear that Moses did before the eyes of all Israel “ to the first line in Bereshit, “When God began to create heaven and earth, and the earth then was welter and waste and darkness over the deep and God’s breath hovering over the waters, and God said, Let there be light.“
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