Rabbi's Letter

July 11, 2019
8 Tamuz 5779
I begin with a prayer for all that is holy in my life. God needs no words, no English, no Hebrew, no semantics and no services. But I need them. Through prayer, I can sense my inner strength, my inner purpose, my inner joy, my capacity to love. As I reach upward in prayer, I sense these qualities in my Creator. To love God is to love each other, to work to make our lives better. To love God is to love the world that God created and to work to perfect it. To love God is to love dreams of peace and joy and to illumine all of us, and to bring that vision to life.


Dear friends,
Well here we are again, back at Hukat, a Torah portion that speaks more about the unknown than it does about the known. Among other important moments in this parasha, like Aaron dying, and Moses striking the rock and supposedly sealing his fate not to enter the Holy Land, we also have the ritual command of the Red Heifer. This strange command that asks us to slaughter a red cow and burn the ashes in order to purify someone defiled by proximity to a dead person, comes as a HOK. What is a HOK? It's a law that defies logic but which God requires of us anyway. It's opposite is a mishpat, a law that makes perfect and logical sense to us. 
 
This understanding that a HOK transcends logic requires that we too, transcend our normal reasoning to even consider the command. Because it just doesn’t fit.
 
Really? We are to search the world over for a cow with reddish hair who is perfectly without blemish and then we slaughter it, burn it and grind its left overs into ashes and then have people contaminated by a dead person, drink it in a cup of tea? The whole thing is distasteful for us as moderns to be sure. But, let's not lose touch with the profound message that hides in this ritual that we so desperately need to hear in our times.
And this message of the commandment may very well be the most important take away of all: what are you willing to do for the sake of God and God’s vision for human life that makes no sense to you rationally?
 
I am going to elaborate on this topic this Shabbat in shul, so please join us to become a part of the conversation.
It was brought to my attention just how passionately unhappy a small group of our congregants are about the 6:30 service on Friday evening. It is just too early for them given traffic and meal time, so we have decided to back up our start time to 7:00 pm in the hope that this will meet everyone’s need in a more supportive fashion.
 
These issues are just part and parcel of Synagogue life today, and our  attempt to stay in sync with the times. It also to accommodate those who have been attending services at a later start time for many many years. My hope is this will make everybody happy.
 
TIME CHANGE FOR FRIDAY NIGHT SERVICES
NEW TIME 7:00 pm
Please note that every second Shabbat of the month we have a PRE-NEG instead of an ONEG. The pre-neg offers wine, hors d'oeuvres and visiting with your fellow congregants before the service. With the time change of the service to 7:00 pm, the pre-neg will take place from 6:30 to 7 and then, the service will begin.
 
We hope you join us this Friday. It is one thing to sit in the same sanctuary as your fellow congregants and quite another to visit with them over a glass of wine and food. It's all about forging deep friendships and bonds of familiarity. Hope to see you on Friday at 6:30!
Come for a UJA
AFTERNOON OF
WINE-TASTING
with Friends and Food
at 4:00-6:00 pm JULY 28 th at the home of
Debbie & Martin Meyerson.
This is a perfect way to celebrate the fabulous and diverse
Jewish Community of Wilmington by all coming together for
some Summer fun!
Please bring a main dish, salad or dessert to share.


WELCOME
 
What a pleasure for me to introduce you all to Sherri and Ira Pavda who have just joined the synagogue. They are still unpacking but they are already regulars to Shabbat services and you can run into them on most Friday nights as well as Saturday mornings. How happy are we to welcome you both!
 Ira has been retired for four years and Sherri has a long history of synagogue affiliation volunteering as president of the Shul, Sisterhood, you name it, she’s done it! She is a go getter and we are counting our blessings. Ira loves to daven and will be helping fill in when I have to be out of town. We are just so happy to welcome you both to our B’nai Israel family.
Believe it or not, I have already had two FaceTime meetings with Rabbi Zach Golden our Hazan for the High Holidays this year. He was fabulous last year although we never made it to Yom Kippur since Florence chased us out of town. He is excited as am I for a redo this year.
 
I am offering the invitation for anyone who wants an honor reading for the holidays. Just hit reply and let me know and then I will let you know in the next month or so what day, page and reading I will call you up for. These honors have no money attached to them, they are simply your Rabbi’s way of offering you all an honor should you desire one. Say yes!
Our Habitat for Humanity Faith Build is shaping up and getting ready to start. You can of course sign up on their web site for any of the days they are working, but OUR BNAI ISRAEL DAY will be on the 25 th of August where we will be responsible to both take along lunch for all of the workers, as well as do the building hands-on as well. If you are having trouble navigating the site or just have more questions, please call Mitch and Donna Ratner (609.647.9332) who are helping to organize all of the moving pieces for us. We are still trying to get involved in the landscaping day, so stay tuned for that.
I will be having a meeting with our Membership committee on Thursday as we plan for our August Meet and Greet at the ART IN BLOOM gallery downtown, Thank you Amy Grant!!!!

Please call either Carol Atwood, Carolyn Moskowitz or me, Rabbi Julie, if you hear of someone in search of a spiritual home, we’ve got it!

Sunday August 25, 2019
3 to 5PM
For the gift of our souls, for the promise of our lives, for all that we are and all that we may become, for the creative seeds within our minds whose nurturing can yield a grand harvest; for all these gifts, we thank You Oh God, and pray that we prove ourselves worthy.
May our lives be ripe with the fruit of compassion, sweetly sustaining those in need. May we use our gifts wisely and with love, true messengers of blessing to the world.
באהבה ושלום

Shabbat shalom all, hope to see you soon!

 
הרב אלישבע בת דוד ודבורה
 
Rabbi Julie Kozlow
(910) 762-1117 ~ B'nai Israel phone
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