In this week’s Torah portion, “The Lord spoke to Moses saying: Tell the Israelite people to bring me gifts, you shall accept gifts for Me from every person whose heart shall move him” (Ex. 25: 1-2). The Torah portion is called T’rumah for the Hebrew word for gifts. God tells the people they have to help build the Mishkan or sanctuary. The Mishkan is the place where all the religious observances will take place. God does not want this holy place to be sullied by those who are not pure of heart and intentions. That is why those gifts given begrudgingly are not to be accepted. It is the same thing with TSS, we cannot make you join, support or donate, all we have is moral persuasion. We want you to be with us, participate and donate time and money. Involvement in Temple life is a blessing, we can offer you the ability to lead a rich Jewish life, please come with a full heart as God commanded.
Transform your individual spark into a warm and vibrant flame of Jewish learning and Jewish living!
A spark of Judaism lives within all of us, as Cantor Sussman explained to the hardy congregants who made their way to services. Cantor spoke of recent and past examples of how that spark came alive and vibrant among Jews who were facing particularly challenging circumstances – at the end of their lives, during illnesses, and when they have simply forgotten what being a Jew meant.
This spark comes alive most often when the Sh’ma is said or when an aliyah is spoken. While years or decades may have passed, how many of us experience the ease with which the Sh’ma comes from our lips? How many of us still remember the first line or two of our Bar or Bat Mitzvah Torah portion or our Haftorah portion?
It is during times of joy and sadness that this spark enlightens us from within and gives us pause to recall what we’ve had all along…the proud awareness of being a Jew. If your spark has dimmed a bit, please attend a Friday Shabbat service or attend a TSS event and let your spark be renewed.
Love thy neighbor… but don’t pull down your hedge. (Ben Franklin)
The laws contained in this week’s Sedrah, Mishpatim, are for the most part civil laws. Civil Laws are the laws regulating everyday life in a “civilized” society. Laws concerning business, property, and family issues are considered civil laws. In our society such laws are part of City, State and Federal Government regulations. In Judaism all these laws are found in the Torah.
The Torah contains laws pertaining to God and the Jewish People as well as law pertaining to human interaction. According to the Torah, how we treat our neighbors is a religious act. To be truly religious we must deal righteously with our friends and neighbors. We must be honest, charitable, treat workers fairly, observe the holidays, as well as pray to God. In fact the great Hillel said that loving our neighbor like ourselves, and doing to others as we would have others do to us, is the most important part of Jewish law.
Bound together by Life-cycle events
Special occasions deserve special attention. At last Friday’s Shabbat Service, Temple Shirat Shalom did just that. Cantor Sussman performed the blessing given to Don and Judy Belmont’s son, Adam, and his fiancé Neta-Lee Laizerovich celebrating their upcoming wedding in April.
The proud families of both Adam and Neta-Lee were present for the Service and Oneg, and it was a wonderful opportunity to meet and chat with the happy couple and their families.
These occasions of joy and sometimes sorrow bring us closer together as a community. When we take part in the celebration of a congregant’s life cycle event, our bonds become stronger and the ties to our religion deeper. It is unique to Jewish life and is cherished by all of us.
Sometimes we find it hard to find God in our everyday lives. However, if we open our hearts to one another in joy and in sorrow, we find God in the love we share.