The darkness of winter, complete with blistery winds and negative temperatures that correspond with this secular New Year (at least in the northern hemisphere) seems to give rise to thoughts of our own mortality. A year fades away; a new one is born. A part of us dies, and a part of us becomes born anew. We are ushered into becoming our “new selves” as speedily as we might ski or sled down a hill or snowbank. As we move quicker towards the bottom, we become laden with slogans of self-renewal: “Lose weight! Get healthy! Exercise! Spend more time with family! Declutter your digital clutter!” -we are on a re-creation roller-coaster. Let’s put that roller-coaster on pause and reflect for a moment. What ending are we coming from? What new beginning are we heading toward? Last weekend we completed the story of Genesis; a book fraught with the creation of our planet, humankind and the family dysfunction that comes along with our existence. The opening verses of Genesis point to God’s … [Read more...]
Come and Learn With Us!
The High Holy Days come with both joy and trepidation. We welcome Rosh Hashanah with bombastic blasts and fanfare. We anxiously anticipate the day we atone for that which we have done wrong, and ask for forgiveness. These Yamim Noraim, ten days of awe, can be quite an emotional rollercoaster. Last year, to great success, we tried something new in addition to our simple Selichot service. We learned together as a congregation. We had a great time together and, as requested, we are bringing it back this year with the opportunity for more in depth study time!! So that we can embrace the rollercoaster, and explore the many facets and motifs present throughout the chagim, we have two exciting opportunities to learn together! Join us on Selichot for some light food and schmoozing, followed by an in-depth study session and short service. Choose one from the following four (amazing!) sessions. Join Rabbi Anderson to “Hear the Shofar of Your Soul.” Enjoy some “Food for Thought” with … [Read more...]
“Roll into Dark, Roll into Light, Night becomes Day, Day turns to Night”
We sing these words every Erev Shabbat right after we recite Barchu, our official call prayer and the beginning of the Maariv service. These are the evening prayers that follow the Kabbalat Shabbat service (the welcoming or more literally, the receiving of Shabbat). The beginning of the Maariv service is also known as Shema u’Virchotecha, (The Shema and her blessings), which is the basic opening rubric of every evening prayer service.[1] This rubric leads us through three central themes of our history and liturgy: creation, revelation, and redemption.[2] Shema, our declaration of faith in one God lies at the center of these three themes. Maariv Aravim serves as our “creation” liturgy, blessing God for speaking the night into being. This prayer is quite poetic. Joel Hoffman (My People's Prayer Book: Welcoming the Night Vol. 9, p. 49) illucidates that the opening line “asher bidvaro maariv aravim” means much more than “who speaks the evening into being.” Both aravim/erev and … [Read more...]
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