From the Rabbi’s Desk

You may have noticed that Aaron and I will be sponsoring our oneg this coming Friday evening. Mishpatim is a very special parashah for us both, but particularly for me, as it is my conversion parashah. Interestingly, Mishpatim is also the first parashah where we learn many of the ‘civil’ mitzvot after standing at Sinai. We learn what we are to do and what we are not to do as Jews.More

Yitro is that reading that reminds us all that not only are we not alone, but that we should never think we can do it all by ourselves. Yitro is the father-in-law of Moses. He watches a long line of people approaching Moses day after day, hour after hour with their problems. And finally Yitro says to Moses, “This is not a good thing.” He then advises Moses to set up a court of elders who can problem-solve with the people.

During Tu B’Shevat Lis passed around index cards for people to fill in with how they thought KM could best blossom and grow. There were a number of requests – from more community dinners to more opportunities for learning prayers to Jewish cooking classes to a weekly support group to starting a community garden. All great ideas! And hopefully we can put some, if not all of these ideas, into action.

And, how can you help? Are you a gardener or have garden space but no longer have the koach to garden? Do you have a basic repertoire or Jewish recipes that you might love to share – and teach the basics of making good knishes and rugelach? You can see where I am going!!

If you have particular skills, talents and/or interests and would like to share those talents with other KM members, please be in touch. Let’s set up a skills bank and begin to meet with each other outside of shul. Let’s build our community with each other. Yitro was right – no-one can do this alone. I look forward to hearing from you.

With love,

Rabbi Lynn

This week we cross the sea! We read within the pages of our texts what might be an example of a very early concrete poem.

The crossing is beautifully written in what comes to be called ‘brick’ fashion.

Not only is the text written in this exquisitely imagined layout, it is also sung in alternating cantillations. And of course, those words are telling our story in song – the Song of the Sea. The song ends with the words, “Children of Israel walked on the dry land amid the sea”. Now the work begins, as the Israelites begin to not just walk towards Sinai, but to understand the miracle of their freedom. Our freedom is bound to our covenant. That covenant was a Yes: We will stand together, we are a people.

This is perhaps the most difficult of tasks, and the most evident of the miracles that surround us. We said yes then to becoming a people, k’lal Yisroel. Today as Israel the nation defends her people, we say yes again. We stand within that eternal covenant.

May we see another miracle soon.

With love,
Rabbi Lynn

Did we just move to Winnipeg? We had a cold (COLD) snap for a few days here this past week. It may have been cold outside, but there is nothing quite like sharing a Shabbat service with each other, welcoming new people into out midst to bring warmth into the room.

Our calendar often seems to coincide with the calendar of Israel, given the (usual) temperate, if not Mediterranean zone we inhabit here on southern Vancouver Island. Palm trees, kiwi, even citrus can grow in the right location in our gardens. Tu B’Shevat is often this calendar and blossom reminder for me. I hope you will come and join us – please see the announcement in this newsletter.

Parashat Bo concludes the plagues that finally ensure Pharaoh banishing the Israelites from Egypt. We read of the beginnings of their journey from Ramses to Sukkot; we read of the preparation of the pesach-offering, and the people Israel leaving in b’chodesh aviv, the month of springtime. Springtime is a month of renewal, of hope, of emerging from underground depths and bud-wrappings of blossoms. May the coming days also be a reminder of hope to each of us, that this time of darkness may bloom into days of renewal and hope and shalom. Amen.

With love,

Rabbi Lynn

Shemot is a tough act to follow!  Va’eira opens with yet another introduction by God to Moses, “Ani Adonai”, I am Adonai. And then God proceeds to outline both a history and an action plan to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, including the ensuing plagues.

During Pesach at our Seder tables, we read a summary of this action plan. I wondered, as I read through Va’eira, how many of us have an action plan for our lives. Do we have one-year goals? Five-year goals? What are our dreams, how have we determined to put our goals into place? Drawing on those four verbs from last week – See, Listen, Remember, and Do – how are we applying those verbs that God told us He would lead with?

When we are burdened, overwhelmed with “shortness of breath and hard work” to whom do we turn? God is on the other side of our soul doorway – waiting for an introduction. Will we keep the door closed or open it?

Va’eira also introduces what for many is a moral complexity. God tells Moses, “I shall harden Pharaoh’s heart, and I shall multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.” In this statement we hear a long view – and a perplexing view – why would God turn Pharaoh’s heart into resistance if the overall goal is to have him approve the leave-taking of the Israelites? And then God, in excellent rhetorical fashion answers His own question – so that Egypt will know that I am God.

Perhaps, the Israelites might also be less inclined to leave their known lives for the unknown and mysterious future, even as they lived under such a heavy burden of oppression. We have had a Pharaoh is too many generations. 1948 was part of the plan for many Jews in the early 20^th century – to leave the Pale, their brutal oppression, the endless cycles of pogroms, to lean how to become agricultural workers, to learn Hebrew- there were so many plans for Jewish survival – and overall a plan to return to our homeland. Again. Kvetching and all.

What is our plan today? How do we open that door? Let’s talk.

With love,

Rabbi Lynn

 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

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