SB Right – 3 Column

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 […]

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.  

Shavua tov, a good week, everyone. This past Sunday evening many people, Jews and allies, stood together downtown in a light-filled vigil to honour the Bibas family and all hostages who are coming home to Israel, alive and dead. These are very challenging days as unimaginable horrors are visited upon Israel. We stand not just […]

I have such an interesting life; I spent Sunday morning learning with three women who want to learn how to leyn (chant) Torah, so we discussed conjunctives and disjunctives, the role of the meteg, and punctuation. This was followed by meeting with a new family and their daughter who is considering learning for her Bat […]

As I write this, I have the blessing of knowing Jack Shalinsky in my heart. A long-time member of Kolot Mayim, Jack and Sharon both were so committed to our shul, to the larger Victoria Jewish community and especially, with great heart, to Israel. As you will know by now, Jack died in the early […]

The entrance to the JCC along Shelbourne will be blocked for some time to come. Somehow it seems fitting that the planners for Saanich decided that Shabbat Bo was the week the entrance to our kehillah would be blocked. In Bo we continue to encounter the hard heart of Pharaoh, his blocking the departure of […]

Blessed is the one who frees the captive: Three woman came home this week; Romi, Emily and Doron, welcomed by the IDF and their families and friends back in Israel, welcomed with tremendous joy and relief. We continue to pray for the many souls who have “not yet” returned, praying with all our might for their […]

This week we begin to read the Book of Shemot, or Exodus. Shemot is full of stories we are familiar with from our Pesach Seders – the plagues, the resistance on the part of Pharaoh, and the final leaving of Mitzrayim, that place of constriction and narrowness, to begin the return to the homeland of […]

Vayechi is the last parashah in Bereshit/Genesis. “(Jacob) and he lived. Of course, in true Torah fashion we will read of the death of Jacob and of his son Joseph. We read about Jacob’s ‘ethical’ will, his eulogy, the seven days of shiva – all manner of mourning practices we hold to this day. Jacob […]