From the Rabbi’s Desk

Bamidbar

June 2, 2024 by • Tags: , , •

From The Times Colonist Spiritually Speaking column. I contribute an article twice yearly. This column was printed a week early, so I am including it here for this week.

This week in our annual cycle of Torah readings we open the Book of B’midbar, or Numbers. B’midbar means “In the wilderness,” referencing that 40 years as the Israelites made their eventual return to the Land of their ancestors. This is a land of between’ness, a land that shelters the people between their leaving Egypt, enslavement, and the land of their homecoming, eretz Yisroel.More

Bechukotai

May 28, 2024 by •

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

Behar

May 21, 2024 by • Tags: , •

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

Emor

May 12, 2024 by • Tags: •

Summer has arrived! Peonies, magnolia, azaleas -all in glorious full colour, even as the bluebells have faded. Such is life. What a blessing it is to live where there are so many gardens, hummingbirds, eagles soaring – life winging all around us. Many of you will have seen or attempted to see the glory of the Northern Lights last Friday evening. A blessing every day.

Emor teaches us about the counting of the Omer, the counting of the days between Pesach and Shavuot. We do a lot of counting of days in our tradition. Days before, days of, days after. Counting towards Shabbat. Days of Shiva. When is the Brit Milah? There is an element of precision in this accounting/counting that we may take for granted but the counting is core to who we are.

As this season of weddings approaches, I imagine the brides, the grooms counting down the days before they will stand under the chuppah. The singing of the Sheva Berachot – 7 Blessings filled with such joy, and love, and obligation. Because every blessing is an acknowledgement of our responsibility to each other and of gratitude to God. May we all be blessed to see the miracles around us every day – be it the Northern Lights or a sliver of a silvery moon.

With love,
Rabbi Lynn

Kedoshim

May 6, 2024 by • Tags: , •

 A very brief note this morning as I prepare for a few very full days. The Yom ha Shoah commemorations on Sunday and Monday mornings and the Rally for Israel Sunday afternoon, offer us all serious opportunities to reflect on our place as Jews in Victoria and throughout the world historically and in these present days.

I recently watched a video of a Reform Rabbi speaking about how too many of our people have become so enamoured of tikkun olam they have forgotten about Ahavat Yisroel – love of Israel, of who we are as Jews. Yet, as Jews we are tied irrevocably to the existence of the land and people Israel.More

Acharei Mot

April 30, 2024 by •

I hope everyone had meaningful and joyous Sedarim – we all enjoyed our Seder here at the JCC. Many thanks again to everyone who helped. My kitchen will be back to usual on Wednesday – I always miss the bright green tablecloth that says Pesach to me every year when I unpack it from its box.

This year putting boxes in the attic was a little easier for two reasons. I had some help from a younger member, and we were also able to pass on several carpets that we had inherited from a dear friend who died years ago. Pets have precluded their use in our home, and recently two dear and much younger friends bought a new home – and hence with acquired more space for some of our treasures~

Letting go and acquiring treasured paintings, furniture and dishes may seem materialistic – but those treasure are full of memories. How meaningful to pass on those memories and stories to the next generation. So too, our Torah is full of memories and stories, our Haggadah commanding us to tell our story to our children and children’s children. Our stories come in many shapes, many sizes. We make these stories our own Torah to add to those of our ancestors.

With love,
Rabbi Lynn

Pesach

April 23, 2024 by •

I am writing this on the day of our Seder, anticipating gathering with so many this evening. We are full to overflowing, and I know we will have a very freilich, joyous, and meaningful evening together.

Thank you to the many volunteers who helped with setting up (and cleaning up), with bringing tasty charoset for us to share, for bringing flowers for our tables, and mostly for coming and sharing this precious time of Seder together.

I am also so very aware of how challenging it can be to celebrate in the face of absence, be that absence personal or the larger absence of the hostages. And yet our tradition mandates we celebrate – we remember, and we look forward at the same time. In one of our readings from Torah through the days of Pesach we go back to Ki Tissa in Exodus. We read near the very end how radiant Moses’ face became after his encounter with God. May each of us experience the shared radiance of renewing relationships with friends and with family over these coming days.

With love, Chag Pesach sameach,
Rabbi Lynn

Metzora

April 14, 2024 by •

We had a very casual Friday night last week. Rabbi Lynn and Aaron Devor purchased and have donated a beautiful hand written Megillat Esther to Kolot Mayim. We unrolled much of it and then entered into a lively discussion about all things scribal. May this Megillah be read for years to come.

Then we had a conversation about preparations for Pesach – the whys and wherefores of preparing for this very special time. Finally, we recited Kaddish, in memory of the souls that have departed us, some far too suddenly and others in their time. At these times of years their loss seems especially difficult. Wishing love to all who are struggling with grief and loss. Please be in touch with me as you may need.

Chag Pesach sameach everyone.

Wishing everyone much happiness and strength as we prepare ourselves for Pesach.

With love,
Rabbi Lynn

Tazria

April 8, 2024 by •

As Pesach approaches one of the more than 4 questions we must wrestle with is how are we cleaning our inner chometz (otherwise known as shmutz) as well as cleaning the chometz from our homes? Washing down baseboards, and vacuuming out the stove drawer provides ample opportunity to think about what I have left undone, what corners I have not yet) examined.

There is much to think about every year and, Mah Nishtana, this year brings its own questions, joys and sadnesses. Perhaps thinking about the symbolism that matzah frames for us – a symbol of our oppression, living in Mitzrayim, and a symbol of freedom, that food that nourished us as we left Mitzrayim – will help us revisit where we have been and where we hope to head towards this coming year.

Wishing everyone much happiness and strength as we prepare ourselves for Pesach.

With love,
Rabbi Lynn

Shemini

April 1, 2024 by •

Today I read a notice announcing Pesach and Seder was three weeks away. How can this be, I thought, there is so much to do to get ready!! As always, we find ourselves catching up with our calendar, our Jewish calendars and our secular calendars sometimes colliding with differing demands.

I started to rearrange and tidy my study weeks ago, but now the serious cleaning begins, as I tackle the chametz, working my way into the kitchen those days before Pesach. If anyone wants to talk about details regarding preparing for Pesach, please get in touch with me. This is also just a reminder that you can be in touch about any question you may have. We had a discussion this past Shabbat service regarding the Megillah Esther, a question that emerged after the reading. I am more than happy to meet with you, as I and my schedule can allow.

Wishing everyone happiness and strength as we prepare ourselves for Pesach.

With love,
Rabbi Lynn

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