This coming Shabbat morning is Shabbat Mevarchim Chodesh Nisan. What does this mean? The Shabbat before the start of a Jewish month (Rosh Chodesh) is known as Shabbat Mevarchim, “the Shabbat when we bless.” So, on Shabbat we bless the coming month of Nisan. Nisan is the first of our months, and the month when we celebrate Pesach, and our redemption, our freedom from Egypt.More
Our Purim party was such a delight – and now we prepare for Pesach and our Seder. I hope you will register to join us – Seder is just a few weeks away!
This week we read Ki Tisa, and read about the infamous incident of the Golden Calf. Our Torah is never afraid to look straight at our failures – be they collective or individual failings. And yet.More
Our first experiment at opening our doors an hour early (6 pm) on Friday evening was a wonderful success. We lit candles, drank tea, ate cookies, and schmoozed – it was hard to break things up for our service to begin. Kai Morsink led us with a heartfelt and joyous Kabbalat Shabbat, what a pleasure it is to be in shul with such joyful singing.
Please join us for Purim and the reading of Megillat Esther. Bring some goodies – I have a very easy way to make hamantaschen if you would like to try your hand. Wear a costume of your choice, come and join the raucous merriment!
We read through the whole Megillah and encounter all manner of characters – but One. The Divine One, by any name, is missing from this story. Are the Persian Jews the first of the secular humanists, one asks? The meaning of Esther’s name gives us a hint – her name means “hiddenness”; perhaps God is in the story – but hidden. God reveals God’s self in all manner of ways, in silence sometimes, and sometimes, hidden from view. We all make choices about the masks we wear on Purim, and the masks we wear in life, balancing revealing and hiding ourselves.
We can look at the sequence of events in this story and say God is absent, ergo, there is no God. Or, we can see we will only recognize God exists if we observe BIG miracles. Or, we can find in the natural order of events in this story, and in our day to day lives (that include sleeplessness, eavesdropping, joyful song and courageous risk-taking) that God’s Presence is with us all, in all, guiding us all. Always. Chag Purim sameach!
With love,
Rabbi Lynn
Many of us – many – have been down this past week with colds, flu, pneumonia even, and to everyone we wish a refuah shlemah, a complete healing. The ‘bugs’ even caught up with me and I was quite unable to lead Shabbat services this past Shabbat morning. Thank you, kol hakavod to Lis Louwrier and Marilyn Wolovick, who responded to my plea for help on very short notice. They co-led services very capably from all reports.
This is an invitation to all to participate in learning and leading – be it Shabbat morning prayers, Torah reading, Kabbalat Shabbat – a favourite prayer/song. Please let me know what you would like to learn. The very first verses in our parashah this week, read, “God spoke to Moses saying, ‘Speak to the Children of Israel and let them take for me a portion, from every person whose heart motivates them you shall take My portion.’” Couldn’t have said it better myself!
While the portions mentioned in Terumah were of material goods, (wool, skins, spices and stones), we can certainly bring that same intention of offering into our davening, and bring contributions towards our collective health as a congregation. Looking forward to hearing from you.
With love,
Rabbi Lynn
Snowdrops and forsythia and crisp morning breezes…Spring is coming. Mishpatim brings its own verses of hope and a big dose of that everyday pragmatism we call Judaism. Again, Judaism is not a religion per se, but a code of conduct. Religion can be found in all realms, from family life and our homes, to how we conduct our business deals. Religion is not separate from our lives, it is our lives, and Mishpatim makes this clear in abundance.
We are one. Ehad. Our souls are not separate from our bodies until we die. In life we turn to our teachings to guide us towards honesty, wisdom and gratitude. Torah teaches us – in relentless detail – to put a sensibility of all that is sacred front and centre. For this, I am very grateful.
Those first flowers blooming in spring, bulbs pushing their green spears into the ever increasing light, anticipation in the air reminds us we too live in cycles – daily, weekly and annually. May we be blessed with hope and with diligence as we do the work of our tradition.
Love,
Rabbi Lynn
Yitro, the man of many names. Yitro (in English, Jethro) had seven names: Re’uel, Yeter, Yitro, Chovov, Chever, Keini, Putiel. Revenue Canada might have had something to say about all those names!
Most of us have our English names and our Jewish names, but we may also have pet-names, or titles (Bubbe, Zeyde, Rabbi, Savta (Hebrew, grandmother), Sabba (Hebrew, grandfather), Shver (Yiddish, father-in-law) and Shvigger (Yiddish, mother-in-law). We may also be known to particular people with a particular name, perhaps from our childhood, or a time living in another country. Noah, our Bar Mitzvah this week, will be teaching us about who Yitro was, and how we deeply honour his memory. Yitro in many ways was the father of democracy! Yes, even back then, thousands of years ago, Yitro held an ideal that we utilize to this day.More
I love Shabbat B’shallach, also known as Shabbat Shirah (Shabbat of Song) and Shabbat of the birds – and yes, I will be bringing my little birds to decorate the Bimah! Who can better sing than the birds in our midst?More
This coming Shabbat – Shabbat Bo – we will welcome Yardenne Katz into our kehilla officially – it will be her Bat Mitzvah. Bo – come – seems such an appropriate parashah for such a ceremony. Just as God begins the process of leading us to freedom, to redemption, so too will this daughter of covenant find her way, God willing, to come into and build her potential for leadership into our collective body.More
With Tu B’Shevat coming up we look forward to our Spring festivals, Purim, Pesach and Shavuot not far behind. Special readings, special customs and, of course, special foods accompany each celebration. I’m looking forward to that taste of dried fruits, that first hamantaschen, that sharp bite of a Hillel sandwich. Our taste buds are our storehouses of memories.More
Pesach
April 2, 2023 by Rabbi Lynn Greenhough • From the Rabbi's Desk
Aaron and I are both beyond grateful for the many, many messages of condolence you have sent us, for the visits, for the food with which you have nourished us.
In the middle of unbearable loss, we have felt the love of home and the sweetness of your kindnesses.
We use the language of Hebrew to describe kindness – chesed – and wrapped in chesed we have been. Interestingly when we speak of our mitzvot we open up and expand that word and speak of gemilut chasidim, acts of loving kindness, as it is usually translated. However, if we look closely, we see a plural – acts of loving kindnesses. Gemilut chasadim has punctuated our lives since we left Victoria for Edmonton. I will never forget the small gestures, the quiet presences, the words, “I’ve got this” that enabled us both to focus on whatever was an immediate need.
As we celebrate Pesach this year, God willing, kindness will continue to be our leitmotif for not only the season, but hopefully for the months to come.
Thank you, Chag Pesach sameach, and may we all grow in kindnesses, and in joy.
Rabbi Lynn