A week can bring so much joy and sadness, anticipated and surprises abound when living in a community such as ours. Friday night we celebrated with Gilda Good – she and David have been married 51 years now! Mazal tov.
This Shabbat, Karen and Doug Davidson will be called to Torah for their first time. It will be a Shabbat of great joy.More
August has been a month of simchas, even during the month of Av, a time of mourning. We have celebrated weddings, conversions, first time leyning Torah with us at KM, and we have also supported those who are ill and in need of a visit.
We send our condolences to Lis and Ariel Louwrier and their family on the death of Marta Colbas, Lis’ beloved mother. Shiva announcement will be sent separately.
Last Shabbat Jocelyn Abrams (who brings us beautiful flower arrangements from her garden in honour of her beloved mother, reminded Aaron and I of a scenario we had both completely forgotten. In telling us this vignette, I was reminded again of the importance of being in community – even if it means that others remember stories and precious moments we may have forgotten!More
What a wonderful Shabbat service we had this past week. Jessica Havens and Joel Laventure were called to Torah for the first time, which is always a moving and momentous occasion for them – and for us. Again, mazal tov.
At our most recent Religious Services meeting we discussed making a few changes to our Shabbat services to make services (hopefully) more inclusive for our members. Some of these changes will be on a trial basis (September through December) and we invite your ongoing comments and feedback.
Friday nights: Once a month we will have a Kabbalat Shabbat service with a modified Torah service – one Aliyah. One Friday a month we will hold a Kolot Mayim Friday night dinner, where we will be reciting the Blessings together, sharing a meal and some stories. We see these efforts as building community ties.
Torah: Want to read Torah but feel a whole Aliyah (minimum of three verses is too much? We are inviting you to learn one verse and then another reader will complete the remaining verses.
Haftarah: From Bereshit in October we will be including an abbreviated Haftarah (reading from the Prophets). We will be inviting congregation members to learn the Blessings Before and After by singing along with us. If you wish to learn to chant a Haftarah in Hebrew speak to Rabbi Lynn – and if you would like to read the Haftarah in English, we invite you to also speak with Rabbi Lynn.
Welcoming, Buddy system: We are looking for people to offer to be at the door to welcome people as they arrive, and also to act as a ‘buddy’, particularly for those new to services.
D’var: Have you an occasion where you would like to give the d’var? Want to choose a particular Torah reading, perhaps to honour a loved one, and give a d’var that day? Call Rabbi Lynn.
These are a few of our thoughts as we move forward into the coming year. Team Kolot Mayim – we are all learners, all have capacity to share what we are learning.
With love,
Rabbi Lynn
Devarim is the final Book in Torah; it is also called Mishneh Torah, or Repetition/Explanation of Torah. This is the Book of Moses, if you will, where Moses reiterates the stories, journeys and mitzvot that the people Israel will need to remember as they prepare to cross the River Jordan.
Moses didn’t have long to live, and he knew he was not going to enter the Land. Devarim can be translated as words, and Moses, in his descriptions spoke many words. We use words to describe our journeys and words to welcome.
Joel Laventure and Jessica Havens are meeting with their respective Beit Din this week, on Rosh Chodesh Av. In completion of their decision to convert and join the tribe, they will be called to Torah on Shabbat. We are very pleased to welcome you both. In Chapter 1 verse 6, God says to the people, “Enough of your dwelling by the mountain. Turn yourself around and journey and come….” And then God describes the Land, this promised Land, given to their ancestors, ours, and now, also the ancestors of Joel and Jessica.
With love,
Rabbi Lynn
This Friday evening we will be holding our final Kabbalat Shabbat service until August. I will be on holiday during the month of July. I will be in town, mostly, and am certainly available in case of emergencies. Hopefully all will be well.
This week in our parasha, B’ha’alotecha, we read about the lighting of the Menorah. As the light from the seven lamps cast light so too are we commanded to cast our light. This morning (Monday) I opened my texts to read a message from a dear friend in England. Avielah told me that a Chevrah Kadisha colleague had died. Melvyn Hartog headed up the United Synagogues Chevra Kadisha for many years – we met at a CK conference. He was a haimishe man, very warm and utterly committed to the work we both loved. Melvyn truly brought light into his work. Apparently, he frequently gave talks entitled, “Talking About Death Won’t Kill You.” May his memory be a blessing.
These days can appear very disheartening, as we read about more and more occasions when Jewish presence is being erased – from Pride parades to faculty associations, from University academic journals to concert settings. Kol hakavod to two of our members, Anita and Sari who have written letters to our local paper highlighting this ongoing and worsening situation. May we all be lights unto our nation, and may we each hold the presence of one other with love and with light.
With love,
Rabbi Lynn
As we think about Naso, our Torah portion this week, we cannot help but be utterly grateful for the courage, endurance and stamina of the IDF forces who were able to rescue, redeem and bring home four hostages. Noa Argamani, 25, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and 40-year-old Shlomi Ziv were all kidnapped at the Nova music festival, and were all rescued from a camp in central Gaza.More
This coming Shabbat is the first of June, and our Torah reading, Bechukotai, seems to reflect the optimism I feel when I say the word June.
We read in the opening of this parashah a section of blessings that hold deep reassurance for us, particularly in what may feel like such perilous times. We spoke at services last week about holding hope, about holding a sense of family with our people in Israel, and surely this hope is also found throughout our Torah.
This coming Sunday, Ohad Rafeli and his bride Katja Chorna will be married. May their joy increase our own, may their joy increase our own joy. Here is a clip of such hope and blessing from David Zelller,z”l, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUZoGKitZDA
With love,
Rabbi Lynn
This week we come close to completing our reading of Vayikra, the Book of Leviticus. Because we are in a leap year we read Behar separately from B’chukotai, where we read sequences of blessings and curses. Such is life in many ways. Separately and together.
I had the privilege this week to sit bedside with the mother of one of our members. She has been hospitalized and will hopefully recover enough to leave her present premises. As we spoke, she told me of her marriage to her second husband, now deceased, and she described herself in that marriage as completely content. I was so struck by the depths she found in all of love’s simplicity within that one word. Her life was not without sadness, not without grief, but her overall emotion was that of contentment. What a blessing.
We spoke in shul last week about endurance. Again, endurance is a quality we may not think of often, but in endurance we are able to look at that big picture, be it our marriage, our difficulties, or our lifetime. B’har and B’chukotai is about both contentment and endurance. Harvesting and fallow years. The blessing of rest, of Shabbat. But these parashiot are also about finding in both the blessings and admonitions of our lives the blessing of God’s light, that we may know, “I will establish my covenant with you.”
That covenant, that relationship may be difficult to find at times, but as we gather together, as we see each other, as we step up to learn, we find that endurance requires contentment, and contentment requires endurance. May we all be so blessed.
With love,
Rabbi Lynn
Shoftim
September 2, 2024 by Rabbi Lynn Greenhough • From the Rabbi's Desk
Shavua tov, everyone,
This week we begin the month of Elul – Rosh Chodesh Elul begins Tuesday evening and through Wednesday, bringing us closer to Rosh Hashanah. This is also the week of Shoftim, Deena Vladar’s Bat Mitzvah portion. Not to give away her d’var, but this parasha is meant to be. I hope you can join us and celebrate the first of the coming Bar and Bat Mitzvah ceremonies at Kolot Mayim.
This has been a week of every emotion: gratitude at people stepping up; shared sadness; joy with a young couple getting married this coming Sunday. People we have been saying mishaberach blessings for have gone home, left hospital. I took several people off the list this Shabbat because they have died. Torah is so much about how to thread our way through the challenges life throws at us. I also had three people speak with me about workshops they wanted to develop for us this coming fall. We have a wealth of talent amongst us!
Elul is a time of deep reflection. Of teshuvah, of returning to the soul of our being. Return again, return again, return to the land of your soul…
Much love,
Rabbi Lynn