|
Service Schedule
May 14th – May 20th |
| Mon. — Thurs. Evenings |
6:00pm |
| Wed & Thurs Mornings |
7:00am |
| Sunday Morning |
8:00am |
| |
| Friday, May 18th |
| Drum Circle |
6:00pm |
| Candlelighting |
7:41pm |
| |
|
| Saturday, May 19th |
|
| Shabbat Services |
9:15am |
| Havdallah |
8:41pm |
| |
|
| Upcoming Events |
| 5/14 |
Israeli Dance |
| 5/15 |
Meditation Group |
| 5/16 |
Limmud |
| 5/17 |
Lunch and Learn |
| 5/18 |
Drum Circle |
| 5/19 |
Anniversary/Bday Shabbat |
| 5/13 |
Men's Club Minyan |
| 5/19 |
Anniversary/Bday Shabbat |
| 5/20 |
Tora Fund Brunch |
| 5/26 |
Tikkun Leyl Shavuot |
| 5/27 |
Shavuot |
| 5/28 |
Shavuot |
| 6/2 |
Starbucks Shabbat |
RH 1 - The Battle Against Bitterosity
Strings Attached, 2nd Day RH 2010
KN 2010
YK Day 2010 Justice & Change
Archived Articles:
Good and Evil
Psalms On Our Tongues
Memorial
Torah
Ties That Bind
Happy Birthday Rabbi!
Sderot Journey
Shabbat Hachodesh
Seder 09
June 20, 2009
July 4, 2009
July 18, 2009
August 5, 2009
August 07, 2009
August 14, 2009
August 28, 2009
September 4, 2009
October 22, 2009
November 4, 2009
November 15, 2009
November 19, 2009
November 24, 2009
December 4, 2009
December 10, 2009
December 17, 2009
December 24, 2009
December 31, 2009
January 8, 2010
January 15, 2010
January 21, 2010
January 29, 2010
February 5, 2010
February 12, 2010
February 18, 2010
February 25, 2010
March 5, 2010
March 11, 2010
March 19, 2010
March 26, 2010
April 2, 2010
April 9, 2010
April 14, 2010
April 22, 2010
April 30, 2010
May 7, 2010
May 13, 2010
May 21, 2010
May 28, 2010
June 3, 2010
June 9, 2010
June 18, 2010
June 25, 2010
July 6, 2010
July 9, 2010
July 15, 2010
July 22, 2010
July 29, 2010
August 5, 2010
August 13, 2010
August 19, 2010
August 27, 2010
September 2, 2010
September 7, 2010
September 16, 2010
September 22, 2010
September 29, 2010
October 7, 2010
October 14, 2010
October 22, 2010
October 29, 2010
November 4, 2010
November 11, 2010
November 19, 2010
November 26, 2010
December 3, 2010
December 10, 2010
December 17, 2010
December 22, 2010
December 31, 2010
January 7, 2011
January 21, 2011
January 25, 2011
February 3, 2011
February 9, 2011
February 18, 2011
February 22, 2011
March 3, 2011
March 10, 2011
March 17, 2011
March 24, 2011
March 31, 2011
April 8, 2011
April 14, 2011
April 18, 2011
April 28, 2011
May 5, 2011
May 12, 2011
May 19, 2011
May 27, 2011
June 2, 2011
June 10, 2011
June 16, 2011
June 24, 2011
July 1, 2011
July 8, 2011
July 14, 2011
July 21, 2011
July 28, 2011
August 4, 2011
August 11, 2011
August 18, 2011
August 25, 2011
September 2, 2011
September 8, 2011
September 15, 2011
September 22, 2011
October 12, 2011
October 27, 2011
November 4, 2011
November 18, 2011
December 1, 2011
December 8, 2011
December 16, 2011
December 22, 2011
December 29, 2011
January 5, 2012
January 12, 2012
January 20, 2012
January 27, 2012
February 3, 2012
February 12, 2012
February 17, 2012
February 23, 2012
March 1, 2012
March 12, 2012
March 19, 2012
March 23, 2012
March 29, 2012
April 5, 2012
April 12, 2012
April 18, 2012
April 26, 2012
May 3, 2012
May 10, 2012
May 17, 2012
RH
Day 1 Sermon - 2011
RH
Day 2 Sermon - 2011
Kol Nidre Sermon - 2011
Yom Kippur Sermon - 2011
|
A FEW PRE-SHABBAT WORDS FROM RABBI AARON
God Looking Upon His Children Enslaved
This parasha in the midst of a puzzling conversation between God and Moshe:
“I am יהוה
וארא
I appeared unto Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as אל שדי
but by My name יהוה I was not known to them.”
For starters, a casual reading through God's conversations with the Patriarchs in the book of Genesis yields several instances ofיהוה in conversation with our forefathers. The reader must, therefore, read God's words to Moshe as meaning [following the lead of Rashi's and others] that while the Patriarchs knew this name, Moshe was going to understand some new aspect of God; something not understood by his ancestors.
So, what is it about God that is new to Moshe?
“Also, I have established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage wherein they were strangers. And also I have heard the groaning of the the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage and I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the children of Israel: I am יהוה and I will release you from the burdens of Egypt; and I will deliver you from their bondage, and redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgements.”
The gist of the speech is that God will keep the promises made to the ancestors. Focusing on the names יהוה and אל שדי, writers have posed questions about who God is. Nachum Sarna, in a short scholarly excursus on the term אל שדי (El Shaddai) cites a few interesting ancient Near Eastern parallels to that very old name, an inscription in hieroglyphic form upon a 13th Century BCE Egyptian tomb. Other finds include citations in Greek, Syriac and Akkadian. The suggestions are about the power of a god (or God). Still, beyond the ancient trail of names, the author conceded that we really don't know what El Shaddai was exactly about.
Other writers are more focused on what God does. The repeated references to covenant bring home the message of a God who is moved by the cries of His children.
From the God of Our Fathers to - Our God
What do you think? Is God looking in on the fate of each nation? Does God decide which of His children is better, or more worthy of His love? Is God personally involved in your life? I'm reluctant to weigh in because I don't believe that my approach carries more weight than yours; actually, I don't believe in any one answer at all. Each of us works those equations out for ourselves, and those answers are (hopefully) subject to change in the light of the experiences that shape us. Just as Sarna tells us that we don't understand El Shaddai with certainty, I'm inclined to venture that we don't, that we can't know God (by any name) with certainty.
Here's a humorous poem by the late Waslawa Szymborska that muses about these questions.
Maybe All This
Maybe all this
is happening in some lab?
Under one lamp by day
and billions by night?
Maybe we're experimental generations?
Poured from one vial to the next,
shaken in test tubes,
not scrutinized by eyes alone,
each of us separately
plucked up by tweezers in the end?
Or maybe it's more like this:
No interference?
The changes occur on their own
according to plan?
The graph's needle slowly etches
its predictable zigzags?
Maybe thus far we aren't of much interest?
The control monitors aren't usually plugged in?
Only for wars, preferably large ones,
for the odd ascent above our clump of Earth,
for major migrations from point A to B?
Maybe just the opposite:
They've got a taste for trivia up there?
Look! on the big screen a little girl
is sewing a button on her sleeve.
The radar shrieks,
the staff comes at a run.
What a darling little being
with its tiny heart beating inside it!
How sweet, its solemn
threading of the needle!
Someone cries enraptured:
Get the Boss,
tell him he's got to see this for himself!
Click any of the images below to view as (larger) pdf
Please click image above to view as separate pdf
|
