Dear Temple Sinai Members and Friends,
I hope your Pesach is going well and you are not already tired of Matzoh. The Temple Sinai Seder was lively and enjoyable with a little over 160 people in attendance. On the second night, I conducted a Seder for 25 people in someone’s home in my community of Palm Chase, while earlier in the day, a Seder at Harbor’s Edge Rehab Center with 5 Temple members assisting me. All in all, it was a wonderful time sharing our tradition’s beautiful prayers, foods and time honored rituals. Please do not forget that next Monday morning, April 29th, there will be a Pesach morning service with Yizkor.
This coming weekend will include something extraordinary in the history of Temple Sinai. A Boca Raton resident has offered to donate to the Temple two bronze statues, both of which are Holocaust related, sculpted by a Holocaust survivor, Alfred Tibor z”l.
As of Wednesday night, the hope is that they will be transported to the Temple and installed over this weekend. One is called “Hope”, which stands 11 feet tall, and the other is called “Happy Times”, which stands about 7 feet tall. The taller statue will be placed in the circular garden opposite the Temple front doors and the other one will be placed in the garden where the Succah is located. They are truly breathtaking! There will be a special ceremony of dedication in the next few weeks, ideally coordinated with Yom HaShoah. Temple Sinai will truly be blessed by these statues and the inspiration of hope they will give to those who view them.
This Shabbat’s Torah reading will be special for Pesach. In ancient times, Hebrews and later Jews were required to bring an offering to the Holy Place, first the Tabernacle in the desert and later the Temple in Jerusalem. The Torah portion details those offerings for the Pesach holiday. I hope to explore with you what you bring to the Temple to offer God.
May you continue to have a zissen and meaningful Pesach,
P.S. I will be offering two interesting programs in May. The first, Monday May 6th at 10 am, will be a showing of the video “Auschwitz: when You Cried, You Died” followed by a discussion of dealing with Anti-Semitism today.
Then, the following Monday, May 13th also at 10 am, I will host an open forum to share our views regarding what is going on in Israel politically and militarily, as well as the Anti-Israel protests occurring on college campuses. “Let’s Get Together And Talk About Israel”.
Your Rabbi Steve
