Dear Temple Sinai Members and Friends,
First of all, Judy and I want to wish all of you and your families a 2026 filled with God’s blessings of peace, good health, and love. Please be safe on New Year’s Eve and regardless of when you see the “ball drop”, offer a prayer for the new secular year that it truly be a blessed one.
This week’s Torah portion, Vayehi, is the last Torah portion in the book of Genesis. This portion is filled with so much pathos. Jacob/Israel is dying. His sight is dimming and knowing the end is near, he first asks that Joseph bring his sons to him so that Jacob can bless them. He then asks that all his sons approach so that he may bless them as well . As it says in Genesis chapter 49: “And Jacob called unto his sons, and said: ‘Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the end of days”. For some of his sons, he actually offers a blessing and for others he gives words of instruction. It goes on for 28 verses. It is a most beautiful and moving scene which became the inspiration for the magnificent Chagall windows that grace the walls of the chapel in the Hadassah-Hebrew Medical Center in Jerusalem.
I used this death-bed scene of a father blessing his sons during one of my hospital visits at a hospital on Long Island. This patient was dying and he wanted any suggestions as to what he might do as the end of his life was approaching. Recalling this scene from the end of Genesis, I related it to this patient and suggested that he call his entire family into his hospital room and share his own thoughts, hopes, and dreams as they related to each of his loved ones. He followed my advice, and although I did not attend this family moment, I was told that it was extraordinarily moving and meaningful.
None of us should wait until the end of our lives to express our feelings toward family members. Even then, we might not have the ability or opportunity to do so. We should let our loved ones know we love them but also to honestly share any feelings we have regarding them and the way they are living their lives, particularly children and grandchildren. This can be done verbally, of course, but also through the writing of what is called an Ethical Will. I urge all of you to attend a special 2-part class on Ethical Wills offered by my colleague Rabbi Marci Bloch.
Join Rabbi Marci Bloch on January 8th & 15th 3:00–4:00 p.m for a thoughtful two-session program, The Power of Ethical Wills. She’ll guide the participants in exploring this enduring Jewish practice and help participants put their values, stories, and blessings into writing. Sessions will take place at Temple Sinai. Zoom will be available. Please call the office at 561-276-6161 Ext 100 or email Susi@TempleSinaipbc.org to RSVP with your email address.
Also, for those of you who are interested, this Tuesday is the 10th of Tevet. This is a fast day on the traditional calendar marking the beginning of the siege of the Holy city Jerusalem in 588 by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II. Imagine, archaeologists have recently uncovered a mikvah from that time in the area near the Kotel, the Western Wall, under the plaza near Robinson’s Arch under a layer of ash, ash from the siege of Jerusalem, the city that was burnt to the ground. Only in Israel does Jewish history come alive. As the director of the Heritage of the Wall Foundation commented, “The exposure of a Second Temple period ritual bath beneath the Western Wall Plaza, with ashes from the destruction at its base, testifies like a thousand witnesses to the ability of the people of Israel to move from impurity to purity, from destruction to renewal.”
Entering a New Year, at any new year time of the year (religious, secular) is always a very dramatic but important time. It gives us the opportunity to re-evaluate our lives and if necessary, re-redirect and re-prioritize our values, our hopes and dreams. Regardless of how you will celebrate New Year’s Eve this coming Wednesday night, do not allow this potentially transformative moment to go by without taking some time to ask yourself some very vital questions:
Am I happy with the way my life is going?
Can I be more productive spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, relationally in my life?
How do I treat others? Myself?
If I need to make any changes, what are they?
Your honest answers to these questions can truly affect the next steps you will take in 2026.
Happy 2026… may your year be a blessed one.
Shabbat Shalom,
Your Rabbi Steve