Our next service is on July 1st (5 Tamuz 5766).
We will begin at 9:30 a.m. in Newmark Hall.
Cindy Paley and Mollie Wine will lead us in song and prayer .
The Torah Portion for the Sabbath is:
"Parashat Korach."
Don't Forget to Save the Date!! August 5 Lev Eisha Shabbat will be a special event!
Come learn parashat Va'et'hanan with our Robin Winston, who has been studying the Torah portion with Rabbi August. Cindy Paley will lead us in Shabbat songs and we will delve into the text, extract the meaning, and figure out how to apply it to our lives.
It'll be a great opportunity for learning and for spiritual development.
And if you're not really big on study, come anyway! There will still be that ol' Lev Eisha feeling, and plenty of singing and Shabbat joy.
Independence Day is a secular holiday but it has great significance to us as American Jews. Throughout most of Europe, during the time the New World was first being settled, Jews were not citizens of the various countries where we lived. Even in some of the American Colonies full citizenship was denied to Jews on the basis of religion. The "American Experiment" wrought by the revolution offered a whole new way of thinking: A country of which one could be an equal participant with others of different backgrounds and beliefs, which has evolved into a haven where one of our highest ideals is the right to freely practice whatever religion we choose in whatever way we chose, within the bounds of society.
This freedom to practice religion -- or not! -- has made the United States of America one of the most religious countries in the world. There are no religious police enforcing our proper behavior in the streets with the threat of beatings or worse. It is up to us as individuals to follow our consciences. So long as we stay within the civil law we're free to be as good or as bad as we will. How much truer are our duties to God when they are given freely rather than under threat of punishment or promise of venal reward!
This American freedom is a perfect fit for Jews, who are each charged to study Torah and be responsible for our own observances. We cannot go to a service and have it acted upon us, nor can we be good Jews through simple protestations of faith. Rather we must seek knowledge and create our Judaism through endeavor. The Revolution was only a rebellion against the English government, but the changes it brought through constant challenge and struggle has created an unthought-of of kind of freedom, which is the envy of the rest of the world. On this Independence Day, let's honor those who went before us to give us this precious gift, and let's rededicate ourselves to upholding the ideals that make our country so great.
Please note: Rabbi August is on vacation this month.
