Dear Kol Rinah Family,
Shabbat Shalom and good morning! We hope you had a fantastic week and are preparing for another wonderful Shabbat.
I want to again wish a hearty Mazal Tov to Ryan Snyder, who was became a bar mitzvah last Shabbat, and to his parent, Al Snyder and Sharon Rosenberg, his brother Jared Snyder, and grandparents Alan and Donna Rosenberg as well. We were so blessed to share this special milestone with all of you, your extended family, and so many wonderful friends.
Tonight is our Kol HaNefesh service, a Contemplative, A Capella Kabbalat Shabbat experience, led by Rabbi Noah Arnow and Karen Kern and beginning upstairs in the chapel at 6:00 pm. Candle lighting is at 4:56 pm.
Tomorrow morning, services will be at 9:00 am in the lower auditorium. I will be leading Torah Talk at 10:10 am, and Rabbi Arnow will be giving the first in a series of sermons devoted to exploring the form and function of our prayer services: the structure and flow of the service, what is essential according to Jewish Tradition, and how we are meant to interact with the siddur and the prayers as living documents. We will also be having Rhythm 'n' Ruach, led by Shelley Dean in the Sara Myers Community Room starting at 10:45 am.
Mincha Saturday afternoon will be at 4:00 pm and Shabbat ends at 6:00 pm.
As our new home at Maryland Avenue draws closer to completion, we encourage you to schedule a tour and check out the new building. Tours are typically conducted on weekdays and Sundays in the mid-afternoon (2:00-3:00 pm). Please email nancy@kolrinahstl.org to schedule your tour.
Finally, the World Zionist Congress Elections have officially begun. EACH OF YOU can have a voice in the future of the Jewish State and help shape how funds are allocated, vision is set, and the leadership in Israel is formed. Here’s a little more information:
Vote in the World Zionist Congress Election - Beginning in January, you, along with millions of other American Jews, will have the opportunity to Vote for Your Voice in Israel. From January 21 through March 11, 2020, American Jews can vote online in the election for the 38th World Zionist Congress and impact the Jewish future in Israel and around the world. Click HERE to cast your vote!.
And now, for a little Torah...
Looking back through history, we often color the narrative with a sense of inevitability. We know the story, and tell it with a clear beginning, middle, and end, so that as readers and interpreters of our own history, it seems obvious that the path begun at one point would lead to a successful resolution.
But we know that is almost never the case. In the moment, things rarely seem straight-forward or obvious, and oftentimes we can feel hopeless, as though our efforts could never really work out.
That is where Moses begins our Torah portion, Parashat Va'era, this week. Given this enormous task of setting free the entire Jewish people, he despairs because he understands the improbability that Pharaoh will listen to him, but even worse, the Jewish people and their leaders refuse to listen to him, refuse even to hope that better things could be possible.
Sadly, we too often see that people despair for their own futures, the future of our communities, or the future of the world. People see the problems and challenges and think that it is unlikely that the problems we face could ever be solved. Leaders, too, are often scared away from taking hard, impactful stands for what they know to be right since what is right is often at odds with what is popular, and what is good for the world is rarely what is most expedient.
But one of the most incredible things about the Exodus story is that it approaches a seemingly intractable problem with a sense of certainty. God declares to Moses, the People of Israel, and Pharaoh that "the Israelites will be liberated from the Land of Egypt" (Exodus 6:13). Not "it is possible for the people to be liberated," not "we will work to liberate them;" they WILL be freed. Period, end of story.
Belief in the ability for the world to improve, that our efforts at repairing the world around us are not only essential for the world's functioning, but can also be effective at creating a better world, is an inherent Jewish philosophy. Moses and his entire life of leadership is an ongoing testament to the fact that new worlds can be wrought simply by the dogged determination to do what is right, uphold justice, and create a better world through the power of our wills and the work of our hands. It all starts with believing that world can change for the better, as the American anthropologist, Margaret Mead, famously implored us, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
Shabbat shalom and see you in shul,
Rabbi Scott Shafrin
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Phone: 314-727-1747