This week we read the final parashah in Bereshit, Vayechi, (Jacob) lived…it was his time to die, and as is typical of Torah those references are housed in the language of life.
Before his death, Jacob calls his sons to appear before him, and in a practice that became the foundation of our system of ethical wills, he gives a blessing to each of them, a blessing that acknowledges with great honesty their character, for good and for bad.More
The very first words in this week’s parasha Vayigash, we read that Judah carefully approached Joseph. The tension has been building amongst the brothers – and is certainly building for Joseph. Eventually Joseph could no longer restrain his emotions and cried out with such a wail that all Egypt heard him! Imagine. In my experience, albeit limited to my days, that kind of wailing cry pours out of us when a loved one dies, or when we hear the news of such a death. It is an uncontrollable wail. Yet Joseph cried out in an emotional tsunami of recognition. Perhaps revealing his identity brought up all the vulnerabilities he had survived since his brothers sold him. Perhaps he was just overcome with an inability to restrain himself from finally revealing his identity to them.More
We had a remarkable Hannukah party – about 80 people came to enjoy a wonderful dinner and most important for us all, Jewish connection. Thank you to everyone who brought food, who helped set up and make the room so beautiful, who helped serve, and of course those who helped pack up tables and chairs. What a wonderful Hannukah celebration.
Our parashah this week, Miketz, brings more dreams into Torah – this time the dreams of Pharaoh. Joseph is called to interpret these dreams, and in doing so, changes the course of his family’s fortunes, first for better, and then of course, for worse, and then, as we know, for better again as Moses is called to lead his people out of Egypt.
In the smallness of our lives, it is impossible for us to recognize the overall arc of what our choices will bring to our families. Miketz reinforces for us, that each choice however minimal, may have a massive impact on the generations that follow us.
Last week we reckoned with how we touch each person in every encounter, for good, for bad; similarly this week each choice we make rolls our history, our own specific torah forward. Dreams often, albeit eventually, can become reality. As we saw the dreams of millions of Jews over many centuries become a reality on May 14, 1948, we light each candle this week, and we pray and hope for our people wherever they might be. Am Yisroel Chai.
Rabbi Lynn Greenhough
Hannukah begins this week, and as always, we balance between real-politic and miracles. The victory of the Maccabees ensured our survival in our land for another few hundred years; the oil lasted eight days instead of one – a nes gadol!
Today of course, Hannukah resonates more strongly than ever as the war continues. We truly need a nes gadol, and with the return of each hostage we glimpse a miracle of both survival and hope.
Lighting each candle over these coming days is an opportunity for us to hold and protect the souls of those still held hostage. May we see the day soon when all souls are returned to their homeland.
With love, may each candle light hope in our hearts.Rabbi Lynn Greenhough
Hello everyone, this is your Island reporter from central Vancouver Island!! We gave Major General Andrew Christie a fine farewell at the Courtenay Cemetery where his remains were interred alongside his beloved wife, Barbara. Those of us in Torah Talk knew Andy best; living in Comox and caring for Barbara made trips down Island infrequent at best.
We then drove to Parksville for Shabbat and on Saturday morning had a service with 25 or so mid-Islanders. It was a lovely opportunity for us to meet, share stories, and build connection. Steven Larre and Jon Sanders, KM members, joined us!
Whilst up Island I heard that Kabbalat Shabbat was everything and then some, so clearly KM is in good hands. Wishing everyone good health, and long life.
With love,
Rabbi Lynn Greenhough
Hello everyone, I am finally warming up after our chilly but ever so heartening vigil on Sunday evening. Hundreds and hundreds – and hundreds! of Jews and friends lined Belleville with posters and red balloons, to Bring Them Home. It was a turnout like we have not seen for years. I brought our ‘baby’ Torah, wrapped in a tallit that we should have the presence of Torah, and in particular our reading this week, Vayetze with us all – the opening passage wherein Ya’akov realizes, in an astonished voice, that he is the presence of HaMakom, of God.
At 6 pm voices sang together Hatikvah, along with other songs of hope for those who will, with the help of us all, be released soon.
I am up Island this Shabbat, meeting with the central Island Jews for a Shabbat morning service. Neomi Summers will be leading Kabbalat Shabbat, with the help of all who come.
With love,
Rabbi Lynn Greenhough
Good morning, afternoon, evening, everyone. This is a week of remembrance, with Kristallnacht on Thursday evening, and Remembrance Day on Saturday morning. I know many of us will be at both services, holding in our hearts the tragedies of too many lives ended.
This week, as we read the opening line of our parashah, we read of the death of Sarah, at 127 years. The reading of her years of life is given in a strange sequence: one hundred years, twenty years, and seven years. Each unit of years – hundreds, tens, and units, each of which held its own particular teaching. We think of what someone has seen in their lifetime, what were the momentous historic occasions that they may have witnessed, who were the family members that were in those countings of years. It is in this parashah that we learn many of the customs of burial and mourning that we hold to this day – a span of thousands of years, still providing the foundational teachings for us.More
Hello everyone, long-standing members, new members, those considering joining us – we are always glad to have you stand with us and join us. Last Shabbat service was a packed house; one little girl made our morning when she called out a “Thank you” to us all, as she waved her flag of Israel.
Imagine back to those early days of Avraham and Sarah as they settled down in the land of Israel, trying to see into their future, and make very hard decisions about their family.
They had no crystal balls, just a promise from God, a promise that was and is eternal. On Shabbat, I spoke about how my father taught me a very important lesson when I was 12, even as it was excruciatingly mortifying at the time. I could not see then what I know today.
My father would not let me enter the Miss Luxton Fair contest. He said entering was based on girls popularity and looks, not on their academic merit or service to community. So he refused to let my name stand. He said to me, “You must stand up for your beliefs, even if it means you stand alone.” His words sounded harsh at the time, but there have been many times over the years I have been grateful to my beloved father for teaching me this principle. It is one I hold with today. On Shabbat 40+ people came to services. I was not alone. We are not alone.
With love,
Rabbi Lynn Greenhough
Shemot
January 3, 2024 by Rabbi Lynn Greenhough • From the Rabbi's Desk
This week we begin a new Book – the book of Shemot. Seems very fitting for our first Shabbat service of 2024. A new year however it is marked, brings us yet another opportunity to reminisce and also to look forward. I am often living within the lintel, as it were, between babies and funerals, Bar and Bat Mitzvah preparation and adults planning a re-reading of the Bar Mitzvah portion 60 years ago!More