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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.

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Friends,

This Pesach is genuinely unique. The question,  Mah Nishtanah HaLailah Hazeh, takes on a whole new level of meaning as we confront the most challenging moments in our recent history.

Our tradition is guided by hope; together, we will get through this, guided by empathy and love for all, including those with whom we disagree.

As we gather around the seder table, let us share the ancient story of our journey towards freedom. Let us teach it to our children and embrace the values that unite us, making our tradition so wise and timeless.  Guided by the psalmist’s words, Olam Chesed Yibaneh, we will build this world with love.

Wishing you all Chag Pesach Sameach

Rabbi David

 

 

Dear Mr. Scott

As we all agree, pulling the movie The Child Within Me was wrong. A weak apology followed. Indeed, that apology did not bring me back into the fold. I am not alone in feeling like BMFI continues to let me down. So, how do we move forward?

This is a pivotal moment for your board and the community you serve. It’s an opportunity for growth, learning, and repair, where you can repair by transforming into a place for understanding, decision-making dynamics, and guided exploration of the mission and the complex issues it may raise.

Who are the BFMI stakeholders?

What is BMFI’s mission, and how does that mission intersect with the stakeholders’ and the community’s needs?

By convening a gathering to discuss the current situation openly, we can collectively work towards meaningful repair for the community. Your active participation and engagement are crucial in the healing process.

Let’s restore BMFI’s reputation and dedication to bringing culture into our community.

As we approach the holiday, I am sharing something a bit unorthodox.

Jackson Browne has done a new version of My Eyes with the people from Playing for Change.  It has always been a beautiful piece filled with emotions and reflection, and therefore keeping with our special time.

Wishing everyone Shabbat Shalom and L’Shanah Tova uMetukah, A good sweet year!

https://theradmal.com/kippah/

As we reflect on the events marked today, the first anniversary of the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol, a prayer for our country seems appropriate.  There are no better words than those spoken by Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863, at Gettysburg.  In that place, Union forces defeated the Confederacy repelling an invasion of the North and marking a turning point in the Civil War.

“Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives, that that nation might live.

It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.

The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Azi Schwartz sings The Impossible Dream

Shabbat Shalom