Rabbi’s message
Shavua tov to my dear TAS community…and thank you for all of the wonderful birthday wishes that I have received…even though my big day isn’t until tomorrow, but Sue enforces my deadline very strictly!!
Today and tomorrow, we welcome the new month of Adar!! Purim, one of the most fun days in the Jewish calendar, will begin on Monday night March 6th and Passover, one of the most important holidays in the Jewish calendar, will begin in 7 weeks!! Start cleaning up and getting rid of all of your chometz, bread products!! You do have some time, because you have to be able to make delicious and yummy homentashen for Purim first .
.The springtime is one of the two most festive times in our calendar, along with the autumn season. It separates the two ‘quiet’ times, winter and summer. I look forward to celebrating together over the next several months the history and fun times that makes our religion so interesting and calendar-sensitive.
And now, this week’s Torah portion, Terumah. In this week’s parasha, Moses continues to receive God’s list of mitzvot, commandments, that are to be carried out in the Sinai desert on the way to the Israelites new homeland in Canaan. It is a very, very long list that continues from last week’s parasha and continues for several more. Many of the mitzvot are not commandments that we observe today, nor have we for many, many centuries. They mostly deal with the construction of the portable sanctuary that preceded that permanent Temple in Jerusalem. These commandments stopped being practiced with the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the year 70CE.
Here is a comment from a noted scholar, Rabbi Schorsch, from the Bible.“The last third of the book of Exodus concerns itself entirely (except for the incident of the Golden Calf) with the construction of the tabernacle, a portable shrine to house the Ark and the Tablets of the Pact between Israel and God. After the life-altering experience of standing at Sinai, how does one keep the feeling of Sinai present? It can be maintained with sacred deeds, daily acts of justice, and compassion as outlined in the previous parashah, Mishpatim. It can be accomplished by maintaining the observance of sacred time, like Shabbat and holy days. Or it can be maintained with sacred space, fashioning a physical site to represent the presence of God in the midst of the community.”
We will discuss more of Rabbi Schorsch’s commentary on this week’s parashah on Shabbat.
Wishing everyone a very healthy and safe week ahead, there will be lots of rain on Thursday, Friday and on Shabbat, so stay warm and dry…but join us for services on Friday night with Cantor Mike on Zoom and with both me and Cantor Mike on Shabbat morning on Zoom and in person. Early Shabbat Shalom to TAS…Rabbi Ralph Resnick
- Friday, February 24, 7 pm – Shabbat service on Zoom led by Cantor Mike. Candle lighting 5:26 pm.
- Saturday, February 25, 10 am – Shabbat service led by Rabbi Ralph and Cantor Mike. Please join us for a kiddush lunch after the service.
- Tuesday, February 28, 7 pm – Cantor Mike’s end of the month concert.
- Friday, March 3, 7 pm – Shabbat service on Zoom led by Cantor Mike. Candle lighting 5:32 pm.
- Saturday, March 4, 10 am – Shabbat service led by Rabbi Ralph and Cantor Mike. Please join us for a kiddush lunch after the service.
- Monday, March 6, 7 pm – Megillah Reading led by Rabbi Ralph
Purim Mitzvah Opportunity
Our member Rabbi Avivah Erlick, who works as the Jewish chaplain at Metropolitan State psychiatric hospital in Norwalk, invites members to contribute a few dollars to a fund that she is creating to be able to provide religious materials to Jewish hospital staff. Most immediately, she would like to be able to send them Purim goodie bags (mishloah manot).Avivah points out that Purim, which this year falls on March 6 and 7, is a holiday of many mitzvot, and this project can count as your fulfillment of two of them — namely, to donate a little change to a Jewish communal effort (traditionally, half a shekel), and to send gifts of assorted foods to friends. Other holiday mitzvot include to give gifts of food to the poor, and to hear the reading of the Megillah (book of Esther)Avivah will be able to provide a charity acknowledgment for tax purposes if you like. You can either mail a check to her at work or send money into her Venmo account. If you would like an acknowledgment, please also send her an email with your name, address and donated amount.
FOR DETAILS PLEASE CALL THE TEMPLE OFFICE.