B’ruchim Habaim
Welcome to those who come in the name of the Lord. Welcome to the first annual meeting of Temple Shirat Shalom. It is thrilling to see all of you here this afternoon. In this week’ s Torah portion the Israelites are told of the yovel the fiftieth year. In the fiftieth year land goes back to its original owner, slaves are freed and the land is to rest, all wonderful high minded principles. These principles if followed would right the wrongs of the ancient Israelite society. The Rabbis concluded that this never really happened. Well then what does it teach us. It teaches us that forming a moral and just society is always the goal and the object of our religious communities. Let me tell you all that Temple Shirat Shalom has always acted honorably and morally and has created a community worthy of the Yovel. What we have accomplished over this past year is astounding. Judaism rests on three principles God , Torah and the Jewish people. The personal and communal spirituality of our members is paramount in the thoughts of all of us. Our services are calm and lovely. They encourage participation and open up the opportunity to connect to Adonai, our God. Sometimes a sanctuary becomes the focal point of spirituality but God is everywhere and we have created sacred space in every venue that we have come together as a congregation. As it says on all our certficates which will be distributed later from Ex 25:8″. And let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them”.

I chose that passage because it says that God enters into any space where Godly things occur. That has happened at TSS because we have acted Godly in our hearts and God has entered into our midst. The Rabbis said Torah or learning is paramount in Jewish thought. We have succeeded in teaching our children as well as our adults. We have had a Religious School and adult education classes rivaling much larger institutions. Judaism cannot survive without nurturing the community. At TSS we have been there for our congregants in times of joy and in times of sadness. I have marveled at how we have jumped into action to help those in trouble and selflessly did what was needed.

A number of years ago my father said to me “” If Judaism is not life enriching, affirming or expanding it is not Judaism”. He would have been very proud of what we have done at TSS because it has accomplished all that.

Of course we have not accomplished all these things without the help of all of you. We have done so much together. I must thank the board, the religious school committee and the religious practices committee especially for working so hard and so well.

And of course a special thank you to the Goldners. Dave is the perfect man for the job of president of a Temple he is smart, patient,kind,funny and practical. Above all he is a man of honor a mensch. But as in most situations in life his spouse has made it possible for him to do and be all those things, our Karyn has truly kept our little ship afloat.

Thank you all for allowing me to serve you as your Cantor and spiritual leader. I find myself truly blessed.
And now let us all say the shehecheyanu together as we thank God for allowing us to reach this day.

Cantor’s Place

In this week’s Torah portion, Sh’mini we come to the absolute middle of the Torah in terms of the number of letters. The middle occurs in the middle of the Hebrew word for belly. That is, the  middle of the Torah corresponds to the  middle of the body. When we speak of the important moments of life we recount the highs and the lows. But is it not the middle or the middling times that are most important? It is just the living every day, doing what we must, that defines our life. The driving of our children to Religious School every week, taking our aged parents for an outing, remembering our friend’s important birthday. Not earth shattering events but important none the less. In Judaism we are always to remember that we can make all the moments in our lives holy even the most mundane or middle.

This week’s Torah portion Vayikra begins the book of Leviticus. It is the book that describes the Holiness code , the responsibilities of the Priests and the ins and outs of animal sacrifice. It does not sound like a gripping story. It however is quite important because it describes how we are to live a moral life. When the ancient Israelites missed the mark, or sinned they engaged in sacrifice to make amends for what they had done. Since we no longer have the Temple in Jerusalem we have to find another way to show, we are sorry. We pray to God and participate in Temple life. We also try and be better people to those around us. In Leviticus the text points out the importance of leading a moral life and how to function in a family and in a community.

Now a few weeks before Passover , it is a good time to do spring cleaning for our homes as well as our souls. It is a good time to assess our relationships and try and fix the problems we may be facing.