This week ends our High Holyday season.  The last celebration is Simchat Torah which will be held at the Swain School on Sunday at 7:00 pm. Simchat Torah is the holiday of the reading of the Torah and the holiday in which we point out the integral position the Torah holds in the life of every Jew. At Simchat Torah services we finish reading the Torah and then immediately begin to read it again. The last parsha of the Torah is V’zot Hab’racha, this is the blessing. In it Moses blesses the Israelites using  a beautiful poem to move and inspire them. The parsha then continues with the death of Moses and a retelling of his remarkable story. The text reflects the epic story of Israel’s unrivaled leader. After we chant the last verses of V’zot Hab’racha we immediately go to the beginning of the Torah and chant the first few verses of  B’reishit, in the beginning. The Torah begins with the telling of the story of creation. We end the Torah with the story of the beginning of the Jewish people in the land that God had promised them and begin the Torah with the beginning of the world. I find that to be an amazing literary device.

We are now beginning the cycle of the reading of the Torah and we need sermonizers. These next few weeks are the most familiar of all the stories of the Torah and are quite fertile in terms of subjects to preach about.

Oct 13 B’reishit , Creation

Oct 20 Noah

Oct 28 Lech L’cha beginning of the story of Abraham

Please let me know if you would like to preach any of these weeks.

Chag Sameach

Happy Holiday

 

May you get a clean bill of health from your dentist, psychiatrist, ophthalmologist, cardiologist, gastroenterologist, urologist, proctologist, gynecologist, podiatrist, plumber, and the IRS. May your

hair, teeth, facelift, abs, honey cakes, and stocks not fall; may your blood pressure, triglycerides, your cholesterol, white blood count, weight, and your mortgage interest rates not rise.

May you find a way to travel from anywhere to anywhere in the rush hour in less than an hour and when you arrive may you find a parking place.

May God give us all the fortitude to withstand this presidential campaign and may some of the promises be kept. May we believe at least half of what the candidates propose and may those elected fulfill at least half of what they promise, and may the miracle of reducing taxes, taking care of all the people’s needs and the balancing of the budget come to pass.

May what we see in the mirror delight us and what others see in us, delight them. May someone love enough to forgive our faults, be blind to our blemishes and tell the world about our virtues.

May the telemarketers wait until we finish dinner to call us; may our checkbooks and budgets balance and may they include generous amounts of charity.

May we remember to say “I love you” at least once a day to our partners, children and parents and all of our significant others.

May the Messiah come this year and if he/she does not, may we live as if he/she has, in a world of peace, with awareness of the spirit of awe in every sunset,flower, baby’s smile, lover’s kiss and every wonderful astonishing beat of our  heart.

May we smile and laugh throughout the year.

Shana Tovah u’m’tukah

Cantor Ellen Sussman

We are approaching the High Holydays and I am very busy preparing for the Yamin Noraim, the Days of Awe. The Rabbis wanted us to search for God’s Presence these weeks. God is the awe inspiring source of our spiritual being. As I prepare I am hopeful that Rabbi Priesand and I will touch your souls and help our congregation witness the power of being part of K’lal Yisrael, the People of Israel. On Rosh Hashana when we see our community come together let us remember the beauty of
our tradition and the benefit of sharing that tradition with the members of Temple Shirat Shalom.

A number of you have indicated that you would be amenable to giving a sermon if the parsha was something of interest to you particularly.

Sept 15 – Nitzavim Moses finishes his address to the people, reiterating the relationship and obligations between God and the Jewish People.

Sept 22 – Vayelech Moses anticipates his death and lays his hands on Joshua making him the new leader of the Jewish People.

Sept 29 – Haazinu Moses utters God’s prophetic poem extolling the Divine might and favor He has shown to Israel.

We are in the month of Elul the time that we dedicate ourselves to preparations for the High Holydays. In a traditional synagogue the shofar is sounded every morning for the entire month awakening the congregation to the responsibilities of the Days of Awe. Rosh Hashanah begins on the first day of Tishri, ending the month of preparation to the Ten Days of Awe.

The sound of the shofar goes to the very soul of our people. As we ready ourselves for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur let us keep in mind the sounds of that ancient call to observance, the shofar. Taking its meaning to heart let us use that sound to inspire us to follow the words of our tradition.