Tag: shabbat shalom

Shabbat Shalom

Hanan Ben Ari shares this poignant song about our current situation.

Although we feel isolated and alone, remember that we are connected by our humanity.  We have the power to reach out to others and express the love and caring we feel.  This will sustain us until the day we can again embrace in each other’s arms.

Shabbat Shalom

Thank you to Ulpan La-Inyan for sharing this piece.

We figured we’d conquered it all
Towers in the heavens we built
Man, who needs man?
No other Flood will come in our day

We will never, ever fall
Leave it, we’ll be fine on our own
Smart, prepared and correct
And nothing is above us

Until you came
And infected
And crazed
And quarantined
And confused
And shocked
Who are you?

How you brought back sanity
Longing for human beings
The loneliness suddenly burns
We’re no longer flying from here to there
All the parks are locked
Weddings almost without people
We nearly lost ourselves
Almost stopped feeling

Soon all this will be over
And I request if possible
That the morning after you leave
We won’t go back to being the same

Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat is not on Hiatus!

Even if your synagogue is closed as a response to the Coronavirus, you can still be connected!  Check if your community is webcasting, if not another congregation is, so virtually drop in!

And if that doesn’t work for you, here is a wonderful medley of Kabbalat Shabbat brought to you by Kippalive.

Shabbat Shalom- Stay safe and healthy

Shabbat Shalom

The Hashkiveinu prayer asks that we are sheltered under Shechinah’s protective wing, so we might find peace to protect us through the night.

At the end of this week, this prayer seems particularly apropos.

May we find a safe harbor from the storm that has been this tumultuous week so that we do not fear the darkness or the unknown.  Let us find strength and comfort under God’s protective wing and with each other.

Shabbat Shalom

I offer Craig Taubman’s rendition of Haskiveinu to set the mood and help us connect:

Shabbat Shalom

As part of our recent CCAR* cultural trip to Israel, we visited Polyphony, an organization dedicated to teaching music to young people, Arab and Jew, together.  One of the great gifts of humankind is Western Classical Music.  The message of this school is that this music belongs to all of us; We all have access to this beauty, regardless of our backgrounds, and through music, we can come together sharing this exquisite high art form.

The following is a clip produced by Polyphony promoting their important work.  It is a message of hope and building bridges through the common language of music.  Watching the young students perform works of the Masters was inspirational and a wonderful way to welcome Shabbat.

Shabbat Shalom

*CCAR- Central Conference of American Rabbis

Shabbat Shalom

It’s National Be Nice to In-Laws weekend!

There is a wonderful commercial on the airways.  The “Good Hands” insurance folks have Tina Fey driving with her mother-in-law, aka Mayhem, portrayed by Dean Winters. It is a caricature of the tensions intrinsic in this relationship.  But it is not always so, as we see in this week’s Parsha, Yitro.  This week we see how the wisdom of the elder father can be shared with the son.  Yitro is transferring knowledge borne from the experience of leading others, he is a Midianite priest after all, to Moses, a relative “newbie” to this challenge.

The wise should share their wisdom.  That is straightforward enough.  But it is in the transferring that things can often be complicated.  If I try to impose my wisdom, it likely won’t be heard, shunted aside instead of embraced.  I must find a way to communicate successfully, requiring understanding and sensitivity.  And on the other side of this relationship, the one benefitting from wisdom needs to be ready for the learning.  Jethro had to listen and find a way to connect with his son-in-law, and Moses needed to be overwhelmed enough to realize he was in over his head and was in a desperate place.  Only then could that wisdom be shared.

Both sides of the relationship are challenged to set aside ego and power so that they can find a place to work together for a common purpose.  How timely a message for all of us.

Shabbat Shalom!

(I have been away for a few weeks traveling in Israel and Rome.  I bring home many new experiences I look forward to sharing soon.)

 

Shabbat Shalom

We still believe that there is a better place, a promised land, and the way there is through the wilderness.  There is no way for us to get from here to there, except by joining hands, marching together. (Mishkan Tefillah, adapted)

If you can, be at the rally in New York this Sunday to express solidarity as a first step toward achieving the values that are at the center of Judaism and America.  Together as the Jewish community of the United States with all others of goodwill, we will overcome forces of hatred and bigotry.  There is much work to be done and miles to go before we sleep.  Together we can get there.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

By Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Shabbat Shalom