Some Thoughts on Sanctuary

January 19, 2018 | 3 Sh'vat 5778

Alice Segal

What is a sanctuary, what does it mean to me?

Does it mean being safe, being happy, being free?

Yes, my home is my sanctuary, it gives me rest

I can decide for me what is the best

It allows me to think and gives me shelter

It stops my life from being helter skelter

A sanctuary is where I can always be me

Instead of being what others expect of me

It gives me relief, it gives me no pain

My home keeps me safe again and again

A sanctuary is what you want it to be

For me, it is my home, as you can see.

If you’d like to share your thoughts with the congregation on what sanctuary means to you - a time in which you felt like a sanctuary dwelled within you, or how we can extend sanctuary to those who need it, feel free to reach out to Ellen Blum Barish and David Barish .

Alice Segal taught at Arie Crown Hebrew Day School for ten years and then spent the next thirty years at the Anixter Center. She was Director of Community Affairs working primarily as an Advocate for Developmental Disabled individuals of all ages and she lives at The Breakers in Chicago where she is the President of the Resident's Association. Alice has two living children, three married grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

In Exodus 25:8, God says to Moses, “Create for me a sanctuary, and I will dwell among them.” These words set the building of the Tabernacle into motion. But the verse’s ending has an interesting grammatical anomaly. Instead of telling the Israelites to create a sanctuary so God can dwell within it, the wording suggests that the dwelling may be amon g the people, or within them, suggesting that God can live within us rather than exclusively in a physical sanctuary. This year at Beth Emet we’ll explore the multiples meanings of sanctuary—as physical space to gather as a community for prayer, as spiritual space where we feel safe and whole, and as an attitude that is welcoming and accepting of everyone.

This weekly e-mail project, curated by David and Ellen Barish, allows congregants to express themselves in any of a variety of media: speechmaking, poetry, essay, story, photography, film, paint, sculpture, printmaking, textile, sound or music. If you'd like to contribute, please email Ellen and/or David .

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Beth Emet The Free Synagogue

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Evanston, IL 60202

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