Dear Temple Members and Friends,
We have experienced these past few Shabbats some wonderful services. We celebrated Yom Ha-Atzmaut with Cantor Shir as our “guest” speaker. We observed Yom HaShoah and shared the heart wrenching story of loss from Menachem, a Holocaust survivor. We looked forward to the B’not Mitzvah of five of our Temple women. We joined with the women of Sisterhood in a magnificent Shabbat experience as we learned of the lives of great Jewish women throughout our People’s history. Our Delray Beach Police Department Chief, Russ Mager, addressed the congregation and we offered a prayer for the 10 officers who joined us on that Shabbat. We honored Cantor Dan at a Shabbat Dinner as he moves closer to the end of his tenure with us as our Cantor, which will occur on the last Shabbat of June.
Temple Sinai is the Jewish place where things are happening. Each Shabbat service is an experience of learning, sharing, celebrating, and mourning. I have come to liken the service to a symphony of various parts that all come together in their correct places, giving every attendee beautifully moving experiences they will never forget. Let me say with great humility, it is my honor to be your Rabbi, the conductor of this symphony entitled: Shabbat at Sinai.
This coming Shabbat, when Cantor Shir will be with us, will seem relatively calm in comparison to these past Shabbat services. This calmness will not last long as Sunday night June 1st at 7 p.m. and Monday morning, at 10 a.m., we will celebrate the inspiring holiday of Shavuot. Please note the change of times from our usual start times. There will be Yizkor offered at both services, although a fuller Yizkor service at the morning service. I will be teaching for the first time parts of the biblical book Shir HaShirim, the Song of Songs, an erotic love poem between God and the People of Israel. We will study readings from this interesting book to understand the Jewish view of the love of God. We will also be making a very special Temple announcement at the evening service, so be sure to attend.
On the following Shabbat, June 6 and 7, we are looking forward to the Bat Mitzvah of one of our students.
This Shabbat we will study Behar-Bechukotai. These two parshiot lay out the biblical view of reward and punishment. On the one hand it is a very simple and direct view of life. If you follow God’s commandments, you are then rewarded, and if not, you are then punished. I intend to explore with you, however, the challenges for a modern Jew and person to hold such a view. I hope you will find this presentation both thought provoking and maybe even a little controversial, or not. I believe this will prove to be one of the most important sermons I will ever give.
Shabbat Shalom,
Your Rabbi Steve