Author: Rabbi David Levin

Shabbat Shalom

During Elul, we include Psalm 27 in our prayers.  Line 4 is most familiar, performed by the incomparable Chava Mirel and translated by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat:

Only one thing do I ask of You, Yah:
Just this alone do I seek, I want to be at home with you, Yah,
All the days of my life.
I want to delight in seeing You.
Seeing You when I come to visit You in Your temple.

Shabbat Shalom

Baruch Dayan HaEmet

 

Baruch Dayan HaEmet

We are heartbroken at the news of the murder of the six hostages, Eden Yerushalmi, Hirsch  Goldberg Polin, Ori Danino, Carmel Gat, Alexander Lobanov, and Almog Sururi.

In our grief, there is sorrow and anger.  In this moment, let us sit in the pain and pray for them.

Blessed is the true judge.

Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat is not the same.  As we welcome the Shabbat Bride, too many of us feel the absence of loved ones lost in the carnage and war.

Idan Raichal, an extraordinary poet/singer/songwriter, shares this sad longing for those we only wish could “Return”

#bringthemhome

Wishing you Shabbat Shalom

 

The tired hours that don’t let time run

The heavy legs that find no reason to walk

The days and nights like the faces in the pictures

Everything stops when you’re not here

And waking up from a dream and feeling you close

Then calling you out of the night

Come back!  Come back today!

I so wanted you to come!

I wish you would come without announcing today

I am a tower of light.

From distances that will reappear

I wish you would come without announcing today.

 

 

 

 

 

Tisha b’Av

On Monday evening, August 12, we begin the solemn remembrance of Tisha b’Av, the Ninth day of the Month of Av in the Jewish calendar.

This day marks the great disasters that have befallen the Jewish people: the destruction of the First and Second Temples and other catastrophes.  It is a sad day, often a fast day, with prayers of lament, including chanting the Book of Lamentations known as Eicha.

As a people of history, we know persecution too well.  AntiSemitism has become more out in the open and widespread.  The current war has complicated our relationship with the world even further.  There is even speculation that Iran will launch its reprisal attack on this date as a cruel, ironic twist to the ongoing hostilities.

It is a time to acknowledge and share in the sorrow and the martyrdom of so many of our brothers and sisters whose only crime was to be Jewish.

As we reflect on this somber moment, we also take heart in knowing that Am Yisrael Chai, The People of Israel, lives through it all.

You can listen to the chanting of Eicha with its haunting melody here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8RBrOiCy40

 

 

Shabbat Shalom

Another week of anxious anticipation.  In Israel, it is peaceful but tense as the Iranian reprisal waits for its moment.

Israelis traditionally use the phrase ‘Laila Tov’ to wish each other a peaceful and restful night.

Many have started using the phrase ‘Laila Shaket,’ wishing for a quiet night.

May this Shabbat be quiet and good and of Peace.

Shabbat Shalom