Ready for Hanukkah? Let’s see…latkas, decorations, menorah, presents, and oh yeah – lighting the Hanukkah candles.

Although every day is Hanukkah for some people, the candle-lighting ceremony comes only one time each year. Maybe you have perfect pitch and can recall melodies after hearing them once. However, for the rest of us, here are the blessings in Hebrew and English (Click Here).

Click below to hear the Cantor singing the blessings!

[soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/tsssoundcloud/cantor-singing-hanukkah[/soundcloud]

This week’s Torah portion Vayeitzei has one of my favorite quotes from the Chumash. “God is in this place and I did not know it”(Gen.28:16). I find it to be an amazingly perceptive adage. We go through life and God is all around us, miracles happen every day and we just don’t notice it. Jacob finds a place to rest and falls asleep. The lodging he found was much more than just a comfortable place to spend the night. When he awakens from his dream he realizes that through the night he encountered God and was a changed man because of the meeting. If our eyes, minds and hearts are open to the beauty of the world we will be different people. We will on this Thanksgiving, be truly thankful for all we have and all we are.

Connections. That’s what we have and that’s what we are … connected to each other through tough times and long roads. Last week we experienced one of the most damaging storms in the Northeast. Although we did not suffer the losses of many of those on the Jersey shore or New York’s Staten Island, we endured cold, long nights without electric, water and heat.

Through it all we stayed connected … that much harder to do with dwindling power on our cell phones and no use of Internet. Hot meals were shared among congregants who had power with those who did not. Warm beds offered along with hot showers and freezer space.

It all culminated with a meal shared together at Randall’s restaurant, coordinated by our Let’s Eat Club. Some still without power decided to come not only for the hot meal, but the camaraderie we so dearly missed. We all felt the warmth of our cozy room, our delicious food and our lifelong friendships.

It’s nice to know that we have each other. We are comforted in the knowledge that we can depend on our spiritual community for love and support when the heat is off, the power fails and the water turns cold. Our connections to each other are solidified and made stronger with every storm, emotional or otherwise, that threatens the peace in our lives.

This week’s Torah portion is B’reisheet.  The first word uttered in the Torah is in the beginning. We are beginning the cycle of reading Torah again. It is also the story of the beginning of the world , the story of creation. We will explore the two stories of the creation of human beings. That is correct there are two stories. We will read the two stories and discuss them. There are many inconsistencies in the Torah that are opportunities for Rabbinic discussion. The two stories of creation are one of those opportunities. In one man and woman are created together. The second story is the one where woman is created from the rib of man. Obviously, different ideas that can lead to different world views This is the subject for the sermon of this week. It is part of our Jewish heritage to constantly study and studying the Torah is a way to broaden our knowledge of the world.