In Torah we Jews are called, Or LaGoyim, A Light unto the Nations.
It is both God's description of who we Jews are at our very core, and an aspirational challenge from God of what we might yet become.
But it doesn't just happen. We have to do the work to make it so.
In my mind, Or LaGoyim, A Light unto the Nations, evokes the visual imagery of a spotlight cutting through the dark night, its peak melding into the heavens, its source right here on the ground.
We at Temple Emanu-El are part of that source.
Or, perhaps, the imagery for Or LaGoyim is a lighthouse, meant to guide against the winds of storm and rocky shores.
We can be that light.
However, I most like the light imagery for Or LaGoyim of the Havdallah candle, which is really several candles intertwined so that when lit, the wicks combine to become a torch.
Burning bright. All of us together. A sense of purpose.
Connecting us to our family, our people, our history, our destiny, and to Our Source.
Here at Emanu-El, those wicks of light are Worship & Spirituality, Social Justice, Israel & Peoplehood, Life-long Learning, and most of all...Community.
We have a really good thing going here.
Temple Emanu-El is "on the move."
Thank you for sharing your light!
Shabbat Shalom!
