SB Right – Thumb Image List
Vayigash
Dear friends, The holiday of Hannukah is over, but its profound message never leaves us. We must stand up for our beliefs. We have had many colonizers over us in Israel – from Babylonians to Assyrians to Greeks to Romans to Ottomans and Brits! And we have always had a remnant population survive. Israel lives […]
Miketz
Dear friends, A week of latkes and sufganiyot, samosa and everything fried – what a holiday! A week of music and singing and memories. At this time of year, as we spin the dreidl, we can almost feel the axis of the earth as we all spin towards the light. How do we stay upright? […]
Vayeshev
Dear friends, Visions of Chanukah delights are beginning to fill our kitchens – or at the very least, our thoughts! So many options from cheese latkes to potato latkes – with or without onions; sufganiot filled with jelly or lemony ricotta balls dusted in sugar. We wish you every sweet and savoury culinary delight!
Vayishlach
Dear friends This week we continue the Ya’akov saga in our Torah, and we encounter the passage where Ya’akov wrestles all night with a mysterious stranger – finally at daybreak Yaakov receives another name – Israel. When is he called Israel and when Ya’akov? Why does he need a new name? What does it mean […]
Vayetze
Good morning dear friends. This week we are now under tighter Covid restrictions, in an effort to reduce and flatten the rising numbers of infections here on the Island and across BC. As a result I am changing all my visits to Zoom for the meanwhile. But please let me know if you would like […]
Toldot
Dear friends, This week we are in Toldot – a word we use for generations – and we learn about the struggles between Jacob and Esau, the sons of Isaac and Rivka. Again, we read of the intimate details of this Abrahamic family; Rivka’s struggle to become pregnant, her difficulties when finally becoming pregnant, the struggles between […]
Chaye Sarah
Dear friends, In memory of: Pnina Benyamini, Ruth Lewis Bloomfield, Sharon Guralnick and Dina Wolfe, all of whom died over this past week. Our condolences to their families. This week we enter into Chaye Sarah – technically we read these words as the life of Sarah, but we quickly realize it is her life as remembered by […]
Vayera
Dear friends, This week, Vayera, we continue to follow Avraham and Sarah as they welcome Yitzhak (“he will laugh”) into their family – their long awaited son. So much happens in this reading, but near the end we read of probably the most inexplicable command in Torah – God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son […]
Lech Lecha
Dear friends, The weeks are flying by, are they not? This week we are following the journey of Avram and Sarai as they leave their homeland to a place “that God will show” them. As someone who grew up here, and still lives here, this story always astounds my heart. I am not sure if […]
Vayechi
December 27, 2020 by Rabbi Lynn Greenhough • From the Rabbi's Desk Tags: vayechi •
The last days of December 2020 are within sight, and January 1st 2021 (otherwise known as 17 Tevet, 5781) is upon us. And as we look forward to new beginnings we also will be closing the book of Genesis with Parashah Vayechi – “And (Jacob) lived”… As we saw earlier in Chayei Sarah – the […]