From the Rabbi’s Desk

The roses are blooming, weddings are being planned, Shavuot is here! What a wonderful time of year. I am flower-sitting pots of flowers for a few weeks, and every time I walk by their colourful cheerfulness, I am warmed by their beauty. I am also grateful for Carolyn Canny entrusting them to my not-so-green thumb. By the time you read this note, Carolyn will be settled into her new home in Calgary. We are also grateful for FaceTime, which will enable us to stay in touch.More

We are making plans with members of Kolot Mayim to ensure all services and events will run smoothly in my absence during July, when I will be on holiday. Members are stepping up in all manner of ways, and I know everything will run smoothly. If needs be, I can be contacted, but otherwise we have good hands taking care of matters. I will be providing information regarding contacts later in June, if people have questions about membership, services, etc.More

I couldn’t help it, I had to sing: “When the moon hits your eye, like a big pizza pie, that’s Emor…”

This parashah continues with the laws of the Kohanim, the laws pertaining to our Festivals, including the Omer, and finally we read a line that is very resonant for many in Kolot Mayim: “There shall be one law for you, it shall be for the ger (the proselyte) and the native alike, for I am God, your God.”More

I was at the Legislature again this past Shabbat afternoon, with a few regulars, including Sharona. Various people dropped by to express their gratitude for our showing up. Cruise ship travellers walking by, some from Israel, some Canadian, an American and an Australian. Iris from Israel, now Halifa, in town for a conference stood with us for awhile. An Iranian man came by to shake our hands and tell us fervently how he is praying for the release of the hostages, and the end of the current regime in Iran, whom he blames for the entire instability in the Middle East, lands he loves, foods he loves, peoples he loves.More

This is a very particular and special week in our calendar. The Yamim – or more colloquially, the Yoms. Yom HaShoah, Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut. Days of memory, memorializing and a day of celebration with Israel on Yom HaAtzmaut.

And then this coming Shabbat will also be special as we have two young women coming to spend both Friday evening and Shabbat morning with us – please bring your questions, your thoughtfulness, your gratitude and join with us as we welcome Yuval and Lihi to Victoria.More

Pesach is over, but is it? We have another opportunity in our tradition, Pesach Sheini, for those who could not sit with family and friends at Seder. May this be the year that the hostages are finally home, and can say with their loved ones, Vehi sheamda.

This year Pesach Sheini will be observed on May 12, 14 Iyar. Even if we observed Pesach, we try to eat matzah on this day. This day is our ‘second chance’ – that foundational second chance that teshuvah is built upon, that our relationships with each other depend upon. So please save some of your matzah for May 12. To read more see: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/what-is-second-passover-pesach-sheni/More

Chag Pesach sameach, everyone – we had just a wonderful Seder. Thank you to all the souls who helped set up, put away, sweep the floor, sing, play music, prepare charoset – so much help, but best of all was being together, meeting new people, sharing and renewing friendships, and food.

Marilyn sent me a very funny video – a faith-off, with Jon Stewart. https://youtu.be/VoRmd6lMREE?si=qRZxBcgSBHDUl6C6 It was very funny and also got me thinking. Much of the symbolism throughout our Seder does focus on the travails of being in Mitzrayim, in those places of narrow confinement. Matzah is the bread of affliction as well as the bread of redemption, our freedom.

I want us to each also focus on that aspect of redemption over these coming few days of Pesach. What are we seeking, what are we working towards that will enable us to recognize the open doors, those windows of opportunity? When we meet someone how might we bring them in, include them, even in conversation? Our little kehillah holds a special place in Victoria. I am proud to be part of Kolot Mayim, may all our voices come together in harmony, and in health.

Wishing all long life, healthy life, a good life,
With deep love,
Rabbi Lynn

Over these past weeks several members of Kolot Mayim have died. I want to make mention of both Caroline Hergt and Sheila Greenberg.

Caroline and her family were founding members of Kolot Mayim – her three children – Quintin, Gabby and Sheldon grew up in our kehillah. The Hergt family donated the breastplate of our Torah – something I only discovered a few years back. We may remember Martin bringing his accordion to a service, or Caroline’s ‘lettuce’ hat, or her walking with Gabby straight into the waters during taschlich last fall – we have our own memories of a woman who personified love of family and love of Judaism.

Sheila is less well-known to many members as she had physical incapacities that precluded her attendance at services. Originally from Edmonton, Sheila moved to Victoria, and shared her home here with Todd. In speaking with her daughter Natalie and Todd, I discovered Sheila read my “From the Rabbi’s Desk’ religiously as it were. (I often wonder if anyone reads my words so that was most gratifying to hear)! Sheila was a wonderfully bright, engaged and extremely well-organized woman, who looked at her life with a straightforward and direct eye. Even in hospital, as we spoke about how to best plan for that death that will come to us all, she told me “Be blunt, be honest”, with a genuine and open smile.

It has been my honour to know both women. We send our condolences to both families.

Wishing all long life, healthy life, a good life,

With deep love,
Rabbi Lynn

Ki Tissa is such a monumental parashah. We read about the stone Tablets inscribed by the finger of God, the Golden Calf, the shattering of those tablets, and then God instructs Moses – “Carve for yourself two stone Tablets like the first ones, and I shall inscribe on the Tablets the words that were on the first Tablets, which you shattered.” And there is more…

As I read these words, I think about how Judaism asks much of each of us. We make our decisions. Here in one monumental sentence, God is asking not just Moses, but, in my interpretation, each of us to carve these words, on the Tablets of our hearts. God knows we will shatter those words. But in that shattering comes that most important aspect of who we are as Jews – agency, ownership, obligation. We carve our relationships with God and with each other on our hearts through our intentions and our actions.  

One sentence, packed with so much meaning.

Wishing all long life, healthy life, a good life,

With deep love,
Rabbi Lynn

This week we read Tetzaveh, command. We read, again in great deal, the garments commanded to be worn by the Kohanim, the Priests. These garments resonate particularly with members of the Chevrah Kadisha, as the garments worn by the dead are called by the same names as these priestly garments.  More