By gary, on December 2nd, 2011 Shabbat Shalom!
Have you checked in on your child’s class Wiki recently? Classes are hard at work learning about the Life Cycle, working on projects and, most of all, engaging in fun Jewish Learning. Take a look at what each of your child’s classes are doing:
Shorashim parents can visit the class Wiki Page here:
http://shorashim.wikispaces.com/
Nitzanim parents can visit the class Wiki Page here:
http://keshernitzanim.wikispaces.com/
Anafim parents can visit the class Wiki Page here:
http://anafimkesher.wikispaces.com/
Te’enim parents can visit the class Wiki Page here: http://kesherteenim.wikispaces.com/
This week we continue the saga of Jacob our patriarch. When we last left Jacob he was fleeing from his family. He had deceived his father who was “dim of sight” and stolen the blessing originally intended for his brother Esau. He was fleeing his brother who came back home after a day in the fields to greet his father and receive his blessing, which he was due.
Jacob at this point is alone – exiled. The Torah tells us that Jacob “Came upon a certain place.” The Hebrew used for this phrase is the word “makom.” The word “makom,” however, usually denotes not just a certain place, but a holy place. Jacob did not treat it as a Holy place. He simply takes a rock and places it under his head and goes to sleep.
Then, Jacob has his dream. He dreams of a ladder with angels going up and down and God is standing beside him and promises him the land upon which he is lying. God also promises him that his descendants will be numerous and God will protect him.
Jacob wakes us and says: “Surely God is in this place and I did not know it.” He set the rock as a pillar and anoints it with oil and makes it holy. We have to ask “why was Jacob surprised that God was there?” Neither Abraham nor Isaac showed a sense of shock when God approached them. Perhaps Jacob realizes the baseness of his behavior and he is surprised that God still cares about him. He calls the place Bet El – the house of God.
In this scene we learn that Jacob has grown up. He evaluates his life up to this point and realizes that there is not to much of which he can be proud. He is fearful for his life and repentant for his actions. He is embarrassed by his behavior. Through this dream, Jacob emerges a stronger person with a sense of purpose. This is the first Biblical example of introspection.
As we read this, we need to ask ourselves “How often do we take the time to stop and evaluate ourselves?” How often do we take the time to better ourselves? Too often we operate as if we are stuck in a rut. We operate on autopilot. We fail to ask ourselves the questions “Who am I?” “What are my goals and ambitions?” “Am I happy with myself and the decisions I have made?” Jacob teaches us that occasionally, if our life is to have meaning we need to stop and reevaluate. We have the opportunity for self-betterment each and every day. May we learn and grow, as does Jacob in this week’s portion.
Shabbat Shalom!
Tonight, as your Shabbat table, ask the following questions:
- Can you think of a “regular” place that became a “makom” – or holy place – because of something special you experienced there?
- What was it?
- Name something about yourself about which you are very proud.
- If you could do one thing better, what would it be?
By gary, on November 25th, 2011 We had a short, but fun week at Kesher this week – take a look at what is going on:
Take a look at what each of your child’s classes are doing:
Shorashim parents can visit the class Wiki Page here:
http://shorashim.wikispaces.com/
Nitzanim parents can visit the class Wiki Page here:
http://keshernitzanim.wikispaces.com/
Anafim parents can visit the class Wiki Page here:
http://anafimkesher.wikispaces.com/
Te’enim parents can visit the class Wiki Page here: http://kesherteenim.wikispaces.com/
Thanksgiving has its roots in Jewish tradition. Sukkot is known in Torah as the festival of the ingathering, celebrating the fall harvest – festival of thanksgiving. This gave pilgrims their guidance for thanksgiving in 1621 – yesterday’s festival is based on this Biblical Festival.
We need to express our gratitude. To truly appreciate the festival of Thanksgiving – to truly motivate ourselves towards self-betterment, we need to be content with our portion and express to God our gratitude for all that we have in our lives. When I have asked very young kids over the years to say “Thank You” to God, they tell me those things for which they are thankful. Often the responses range from “thank you for my pet lizard” to “thank you for my big brother, not my little one” to “thank you for putting me in my family.” “Thank you for peanut butter and hot dogs but why, God, did you create asparagus?” “Thank you for making me me.” Somehow it is easier for kids to say thank you and express their gratitude than it is for us.
Robert Muller writes: “The key to a positive outlook is love, affirmation of life, thankfulness for life. Anyone who receives the gift of life ought to feel fathomlessly indebted to it, for he/she has been given a unique treasure in the universe. He/She should love from deep within, whatever others may think or proclaim, despite the wars, the prisons, the injustices, the struggles, in inequalities, the false values, the dogmas, the noises, the ideologies, the jealousies, the fashions, and the contortions of the four billion human fleas jumping around him/her. I live, therefore I am. Life is all I have. Life is beautiful, divine, and miraculous. Life is to love, to do, to learn, to think, to imagine, to talk, to receive, to feel, to understand, to mate, to give birth, and to embrace in one’s heart and brain the entire creation. In every human life all can be accomplished.” We have so much for which to be grateful.
How often do we simply sit down and thank God for those things we have in our life? How often to we take silent moments where we don’t ask for anything, argue about anything and simply say “thank you” for what we have. “For my parents, children, partner, friends - I thank you. For all the wondrous things you have done for me, I thank you. At times my gratitude is beyond my ability to put into words. Sometimes a surge of joys wells up from deep within me and overwhelms me. Please accept this expression of happiness as my hymn of thanksgiving.” This is the prayer of gratitude of Rabbi Ales Miller. What of our prayers of gratitude?
So, let us say prayers of thanksgiving. “We thank you, O God, for our family and for what we mean and bring to one another. We are grateful for the bonds of loyalty and affection which sustain us, and which keep us close to one another no matter how far apart we may be.
We thank you for implanting within us a deep need for each other, and for giving us the capacity to love and to care. Help us to be modest in our demands of one another, but generous in our giving to each other. May we never measure how much love and encouragement we offer; may we never count the times we forgive. Rather, may we always be grateful that we have one another and that we are able to express our love in acts of kindness.
Keep us gentle in our speech. When we offer words of criticism, may they be chosen with care and spoken softly. May we waste no opportunity to speak words of sympathy, or appreciation, of praise.
Bless our family with health, happiness, and contentment. Above all, grant us the wisdom
to build a joyous and peaceful home in which your spirit will always abide. Amen
Tonight, at your Shabbat table, take a couple minutes to ask each member of your family the following:
- What am I truly thankful for this Shabbat/Thanksgiving?
- How can I better express my gratitude?
- How can I “give thanks” to those in my family and in my community?
Have a Shabbat Shalom and a great Thanksgiving weekend.
By gary, on November 21st, 2011
By gary, on November 18th, 2011
Shabbat Shalom!
Our kids had a blast this week – check out some new pictures and see what they have been learning at the class Wiki Pages:
Shorashim parents can visit the class Wiki Page here:
http://shorashim.wikispaces.com/
Nitzanim parents can visit the class Wiki Page here:
http://keshernitzanim.wikispaces.com/
Anafim parents can visit the class Wiki Page here:
http://anafimkesher.wikispaces.com/
Te’enim parents can visit the class Wiki Page here: http://kesherteenim.wikispaces.com/
This week’s portion is Chaye Sarah.
In this week’s Torah portion, we move forward in the history of the Jewish people. Both Sarah and Abraham die during this portion – Sarah at the beginning and Abraham at the end. In the description of the burial of Abraham at the end of this week’s portion, the Torah specifies the exact location of Abraham’s final resting place: “His sons Isaac and Yishmael buried him in the M’arat
HaMachpelah, in the field of Ephron. . .the field that Abraham had bought from the people of Chet, there is buried (kover) Abraham and Sarah his wife” (Genesis 25:9).
The word “kover – is buried” implies that only now – after Abraham’s death, did both Abraham and Sarah find their final resting place. Of course, Sarah passed away many years before. In fact, the details of Abraham’s burial recalls his purchasing this plot of land at the time of Sarah’s burial. We would then expect the verse to have said that Abraham was buried “next to his wife.” But, it simply says “There is buried Abraham and Sarah.”
What I think the verse is trying to say reveals an important insight into the relationship between the people involved. Abraham and Sarah expected to live a long, happy life together, sharing in all their experiences. Unfortunately, life often splits a couple, leaving one of them in this world longer than the other. The burial of Abraham next to Sarah symbolized their everlasting desire to stay together. But the implication of their being buried at the same time (There is buried Abraham and Sarah) Genesis 25:9 – expresses both Abraham’s feeling for Sarah even after she died and her feelings for him.
So long as Abraham was alive, Sarah’s memory and presence never left. He never forgot her and he ensured that her presence was still felt even when she was no longer there. His entire personality captured part of what Sarah was, and therefore she still played a lively role in Abraham’s life. Only when Abraham died was Sarah’s presence lost from the world. Only when he was buried was the real remnant of Sarah also buried.
Similarly, Sarah never found her final resting place until Abraham was with her again. Although she had been buried years earlier, her soul never reached its place of complete serenity until her soul-mate could escort her there and stay there with her. Death only breaks physical bonds. True love never dies.
As we are studying life cycles at Kesher during this unit, we do approach the topic of death as “part of life” and “part of the life cycle.”
If your kids are Nitzanim age and up, perhaps ask them the following questions tonight at the Shabbat table:
- What have you learned about Jewish rituals surrounding death?
- They should know about Shiva
- In what ways does Judiasm help us “remember” those we have loved and lost?
Shabbat Shalom!
By gary, on November 11th, 2011 This week we join the continuing saga of Abraham and Sarah already in progress from last week’s portion. Abraham, we are taught, unlike others in his generation, was a totally selfless individual. With his wife, Sarah, at his side, he ran a full-service
hospitality center. He would wait by the road to see if potential guests passed by. The Jewish value of Chesed (acts of loving kindness) was not just something Abraham did as a hobby, or when he was in the mood-it was his life! The extent of Abraham’s selflessness is evident in an episode that is recorded in the beginning of this week’s Torah portion.
God had just commanded him to circumcise himself and we have to believe that he was in tremendous pain from the procedure. So God made it a very hot day in order that no passersby would bother Abraham, and he would be able to rest and recuperate from his circumcision.
Well, as it turns out, Abraham was more pained by the fact that he had no guests to bring into his tent, than he was from the actual circumcision! So God was sends Abraham’s way the three angels, dressed like Arabs, in order to afford him the opportunity to perform his acts of chesed.
Pretty amazing, no? That would be the modern-day equivalent of a person checking his mailbox in the morning, only to find some bills and junk mail, but no solicitations from any worthy organizations. Whereas most of us would probably breathe a sigh of relief and not give it another thought, Abraham would be driving to the post office to see if maybe, just maybe, there was some hospital or community organization that had sent him some mail, but somehow it had gotten lost in the shuffle!
There are some people who are so selfless and giving that they are never on “vacation” from chesed and philanthropy. For them, a day doesn’t go by in which they don’t at least try to do something for someone other than themselves.
Abraham was that type of person. This is one of the first values we see displayed in the individual known as the first Jew. To think outside ourselves – to each and every day think of others is not always easy to do. What we learn from Abraham is that simple acts of goodness and mercy – acts of Chesed can make our world a better place. May we follow his lead. Whether it be by incorporating a Tzedakah box into our homes so that each day we put aside something for someone who is lacking, or by literally going out and helping others on a regular basis – we can restore some goodness to a broken world.
As you sit down at your Shabbat Table this week – ask each other the following:
- Can we do more to think about others and help those around us?
- What are some concrete things we can add to our homes to help us be more involved in Tzedakah?
- The most amazing thing about Abraham is………
Shabbat Shalom!
By gary, on November 4th, 2011
Shabbat Shalom!
We had a great week at Kesher the week as most of the classes discuss Life Cycle ceremonies, the Calendar and Holidays. Take a look at what each of your child’s classes are doing:
Shorashim parents can visit the class Wiki Page here:
http://shorashim.wikispaces.com/
Nitzanim parents can visit the class Wiki Page here:
http://keshernitzanim.wikispaces.com/
Anafim parents can visit the class Wiki Page here:
http://anafimkesher.wikispaces.com/
Te’enim parents can visit the class Wiki Page here: http://kesherteenim.wikispaces.com/
Now, on to this week’s Torah Portion……
The World Series is finally over and we Red Sox fans can start thinking not about the year that wasn’t – but we can look forward to the year that might be.
While all the talk of clubhouse unrest and bad behavior is hard to hear and might make us angry as fans – there is one fact about baseball players that is hard to deny – hitting a baseball thrown at you at 95 MPH is one of the hardest things to do in life. If you succeed 3 out of 10 times, you go to the all-star game!
So, let’s imagine two different baseball scenarios:
Scenario #1: You timidly step up to the plate. You feel the sweat of you palms against the wood and the fast beating of your heart. Ace pitcher Roy Halladay gets the signal, then throws a blazing fastball right toward you.
You see a blur coming at you and you silently whimper as you wonder how many ribs it will crack. Before you have time to move the bat from your shoulder, you hear the pop of the ball in the catcher’s mitt. Your pulse increases. Strike one.
Scenario #2: You strut confidently up to the plate. Before taking your stance, you point to the center field wall with your bat. Halladay concentrates intently, readies, and gives it all he’s got. Almost effortlessly, you swing at just the right time, and you admiringly watch as
your ball soars well over the fence just at the precise spot where you had just pointed. A perfectly executed plan. Which scenario would you choose?
Life is sort of is like a baseball practice. The goal is to improve our baseball-playing skills, to work at becoming the best we can be. Let’s say that we are given a choice:
between attending training camp with the best players in the game or with a group of less than the best in the league. By joining the professionals, we know that we will fare poorly: we will rarely hit the ball, we will have
trouble keeping pace, we will feel tremendous frustration, you will be beaten every time.
By joining the lesser group, we are certain to be the star: we will hit the home runs, we will be the MVP, we will be admired.
However, by taking the easy route, we will not be accomplishing your mission. It may feel good to succeed, but you will not improve your game, and you will not become a better player from the experience.
By choosing the challenge of competing with the experts, we will have a chance to achieve our goals, to become the best we can be.
No one knew this better than our forefather Abraham. This week’s Torah portion begins with God instructing him to leave his birthplace and venture into uncharted territory. This must have been a frightening proposition for him. He would have to give up the surroundings that were so familiar to him.
He was a wealthy man and it must have seemed tempting to choose to stay and live a life of comfort, of success, of home run after home run.
Jewish tradition teaches that Abraham went through 10 heart-wrenching trials during his lifetime.
With each one, he was faced with having to decide whether to take the easy route or the difficult path.
With each trial, he needed to decide whether to put himself in a vulnerable position, in which he would have to struggle, face pain, and risk failure.
Why did God test Abraham 10 times? The commentators explain that Abraham would not have reached his stature without these trials
As we are faced with difficulties in life, we can gain inspiration from Abraham to remember that sometimes we can better achieve our ultimate goal by going through hardships. Sometimes, we grow through the challenges that life deals us
Without life’s challenges, how much opportunity
do we really have to improve ourselves? Perhaps by playing with the professionals, by being humiliated with strikeout after strikeout, we actually have the opportunity to grow, to improve our souls, and to strive towards achieving life’s true purpose.
Before Halladay’s next pitch, he pauses, and shouts a piece of advice:
“Don’t be afraid of the ball, keep your eye on it. I won’t hit you.” The batting coach runs over to us and gives us a pointer or two; we say a silent prayer to the Creator of the universe for help getting through this challenge.
As the lightening-fast fastball heads our way, we close your eyes and venture forth. Somehow, to our surprise, the bat makes it over the plate, and, shocked, we feel it make contact with the ball. A tremendous sense of accomplishment swells inside – even as we realize that the ball barely dribbles its way to the pitcher’s mound. Mission accomplished. As we head back to the dugout, we realize that we are a better person for the experience.
The lesson is to challenge ourselves -
Through adversity and tests – we can grow in strength
In the midst of challenges lie great opportunities if we avail ourselves of them.
This week, at your Shabbat table, ask each other the following questions:
- How can you challenge yourself more this week? Pick one thing you are afraid of trying and give it a whirl – to see what happens.
- Would you rather be a lesser player on a team of all stars or the all star on a team of lesser players? Why?
I hope to see many of you tomorrow evening at our Kesher Havdalah!
Shabbat Shalom!
By gary, on October 28th, 2011
Shabbat Shalom!
This week, we read about Noah. The torah portion begins by stating “Noah was a righteous man.” The commentaries say that is to teach us that he was “righteous” in his generation, yet had he been in the generation of Abraham, he would be nothing noteworthy.
The Torah then tells us that, “Noah with his wife and sons and his son’s wives with him, went into the ark because of the waters of the Flood” (Genesis 7:6).
Rashi, my favorite commentator, quotes a Midrash which proclaims that Noah, to a small degree, lacked faith as he only entered the ark “because of the waters of the Flood.” The implication is that Noah did not enter the ark until the rain forced him to.
We might ask, “What is wrong in waiting until he had no choice but to enter?” Why is this a lack of faith? There is a story that helps to explain this point:
In a small town there was a severe drought. The community synagogues each
prayed separately for rain, but to no avail. The tears and prayers failed
to unlock the sealed heavens, and for months, no rains came.
Finally, the town’s eldest sage held a meeting with prominent community
rabbis and lay leaders. “There are two items lacking in our approach,
faith and unity. Each one of you must impress upon his congregation the
need to believe. If we are united and sincere, our prayers will be answered!”
He declared that all the synagogues in the city would join together for a
day of prayer. Everyone, men women and children would join together for
this event. “I assure you,” he exclaimed, “that if we meet both criteria -
faith and unity – no one will leave that prayer service without getting
drenched!”
There was no congregation large enough to contain the entire community so the date
was set to gather and pray in a field! For the next few weeks all the
rabbis spoke about faith and unity. On the designated day the entire town gathered in a large field whose crops had long withered from the severe drought. Men, women, and children all gathered and anxiously awaited the old sage to begin the service.
The elderly rabbi walked up to the podium. His eyes scanned the tremendous
crowd that filled the large field and then they dimmed in dismay. The
rabbi began shaking his head in dissatisfaction. “This will never work,”
he moaned dejectedly. “The rain will not come.” Slowly he left the podium.
The other rabbis on the dais were shocked. “But rabbi, everyone is here and
they are all united! Surely they must believe that the rains will fall!
Otherwise no one would have bothered to come on a working day!”
The rabbi shook his head slowly and sadly.
“No. They don’t really believe,” he stated. “I scanned the entire crowd.
Nobody even brought a raincoat or an umbrella.”
There are always, and will be always challenges to our faith. Noah had his challenges, the village in the story had its challenges and we have ours. The easy thing to do is to walk away, throw our hands in the air and lose our faith. Sadly, however, in this scenario we are left truly bereft and alone.
The other response is to question, challenge, struggle with and discuss those challenges to our faith. When we do this, we only strengthen our faith and our connection to God and our community through education, prayer and dialogue. Noah, eventually, did go in the ark – in fact, he built it in the first place. May we, together, journey to a place that brings us closer to God.
This week, at your Shabbat table, ask each other the following questions:
- What does it mean that Noah was …”Righteous in his generation?”
- Would you have brought an umbrella if you were part of the community in the story mentioned above?
P.S. – This week, the Nitzanim and Te’enim started brand new curriculum units designed by Sarah del Castillo and Pam Pistiner as part of their CJP Technology Fellowship. You can see what they are doing (if you are a Nitzanim or Te’enim parent) and see what you child is doing by going weekly to the class Wiki page.
The links are on the Kesher website and for your convenience, right here as well:
Class Pages
Yahadut (Judaics Classes)
The Yahadut groups at Kesher represent parts of a growing tree:
Shorashim (roots) – Kindergarten and First Grade
Shorashim parents can visit the class Wiki Page here:
http://shorashim.wikispaces.com/
Nitzanim (buds-) – Second and Third Grade
Nitzanim parents can visit the class Wiki Page here:
http://keshernitzanim.wikispaces.com/
Anafim (branches) – Fourth and Fifth Grade
Anafim parents can visit the class Wiki Page here:
http://anafimkesher.wikispaces.com/
Te’enim (figs) – Sixth and Seventh Grade
Te’enim parents can visit the class Wiki Page here: http://kesherteenim.wikispaces.com/
Shabbat Shalom!
By gary, on October 19th, 2011 Chag Sameach. This week’s message comes just prior to Simchat Torah and Shmini Atseret – which then runs right into Shabbat!
On Simchat Torah, we conclude the reading of the Torah and begin again
without pausing for a breath. We move from the final words of Torah – which recount the death of Moses – right back to the first words of Torah - which recount the creation of the world.
The Book stays the same. It is we who change as we grow from year to year, learning from Torah as we learn from life.
This view of Torah as a means for human and Jewish growth is reflected in
the very words that are most central to the reading on Simchat Torah,
namely, the last word of Deuteronomy, which is Yisrael, and the first word
of Genesis, which is B’resheet.
In that magical and sacred moment - the last letter of the Torah – a Lamed – joins the first letter of the Torah - a Bet – to spell out the Hebrew word Lev, which means “heart.” You can imagine, the rabbis did not let that one go without comment!
Like a wedding ring that has no beginning and no end, the linkage of the lamed and the bet that forms the word “Lev” reminds us that the Torah links our hearts
to God – the Heart of the universe. The Torah was given to us to incline our
hearts toward God and toward one another.
The goal of Torah is to shape the heart and refine our character. Torah speaks to us above all because it is the root and record of our relationship with God. God gave us Torah and mitzvot out of love so that we might grow to reach our full potential. And we, the people Israel, have struggled throughout our history to fulfill the mitzvot as a measure of our love for God.
Torah is like a love letter: We read it again and again because through it
we hear God’s love for us. It is the “Lev” -the lamed joined together with the
bet-that closes the circle and draws us back to Torah year after year, to
grow in our relationship with God and with one another. It is the lev – the
heart – that wells up with emotion when we see the Torah held high, when we
kiss it with our prayer book or our tallit, and when we hold it close and
dance with it in joy on Simchat Torah.
This week at Kesher, the Anafim and Te’enim had the opportunity to get close to Torah – to see the scroll unrolled and to connect in a very special way with the words of Torah. This was really a metaphor for all that our teachers do here at kesher; they bring our kids closer to Torah – closer to the language and lessons of the Jewish people.
So, this year on Simchat Torah or on Shabbat immediately following ask your kids the following questions:
- What is it I love about Jewish learning?
- Why are the Torah and the lessons contained within so important to us?
- How is my heart linked to God?
By gary, on October 14th, 2011 Chag Sameach – a Happy Sukkot to all in the Kesher community.
Sukkot is a great holiday- we spend time outside, we are taught to appreciate the homes and bounty that we have and we connect to our environment.
We welcome guests into our Sukkah – both symbolically and for real and it is a holiday of giving thanks.
One of the principles of Sukkot is that we live in these fragile huts to sensitize us to the needs of others around us. If it is cold, we can always go inside – but not everyone has that option. On Sukkot, we realize that the problems around us truly are “our problems.”
There is a story that helps illustrate this point:
The King sat with his Adviser eating honey on puffed rice. As they ate they leaned from the palace window and watched the street below.
They talked of this and that.
The King, not paying attention to what he was doing, Let a drop of honey fall onto the windowsill.
“Oh sire, let me wipe that up,” offered the Adviser.
“Never mind,” said the King.
“It is not our problem.
The servants will clean it later.”
As the two continued to dine on their honey and puffed rice, The drop of honey slowly began to drip down the windowsill.
At last it fell with a plop onto the street below.
Soon a fly had landed on the drop of honey and begun
His own meal.
Immediately a gecko sprang from under the palace and with a flip
Of its long tongue swallowed the fly.
But a cat had seen the gecko and pounced.
Then a dog sprang forward and attacked the cat!
“Sire, there seems to be a cat and dog fight in the street.
Should we call someone to stop it?”
“Never mind,” said the King.
“It’s not our problem.”
So the two continued to munch their honey and puffed rice.
Meanwhile the cat’s owner had arrived and was beating the dog.
The dog’s owner ran up and began to beat the cat.
Soon the two were beating each other.
“Sire, there are two persons fighting in the street now.
Shouldn’t we send someone to break this up?”
The King lazily looked from the window.
“Never mind.
It’s not our problem.”
The friends of the cat’s owner gathered and began to cheer him on.
The friends of the dog’s owner began to cheer her on as well.
Soon both groups entered the fight and attacked each other.
“Sire, a number of people are fighting in the street now.
Perhaps we should call someone to break this up.”
The King was too lazy even to look.
You can guess what he said.
“Never mind.
It’s not our problem.”
Now soldiers arrived on the scene.
At first they tried to break up the fighting.
But when they heard the cause of the fight
Some sided with the cat’s owner.
Others sided with the dog’s owner.
Soon the soldiers too had joined the fight.
With the soldiers involved, the fight erupted into civil war.
Houses were burned down.
People were harmed.
And the palace itself was set afire and burned to the ground.
The King and his Adviser stood surveying the ruins.
“Perhaps,” said the King,
“I was wrong?
Perhaps the drop of honey WAS our problem.”
One problem that is “our” problem that we are doing something about is the problem of hunger – right in Newton.
We have been collecting bags of food (as you know) for the Centre Street Food Pantry. Last week, the Rimonim (8th and 9thgraders) helped to bring the bags of food to the Food Pantry and stock the shelves.
 Rimonim sort food at the Centre Street Food Pantry While we were there, the kids saw “clients” of the Food Pantry come and “shop” for food for themselves and their families. The kids were struck by how similar people looked to their own families – breaking down stereotypes and misconceptions about those who are needy.
Most importantly, our Rimonim kids came to understand that hunger and poverty are not someone else’s problem to solve and that we can help in a very real way.
We will continue to collect food on Monday and Tuesday of this week – if you haven’t done so already, take a bag and your kids to the store and fill up the bag and bring it in. It is a very “hands on” mitzvah that makes a huge difference in our community.
Tonight, at your Shabbat table, talk about the following:
- What are some other “problems” in our own town/society that are sometimes viewed as “not our problem?”
- What are some ways we can express our thanks and give back on a regular basis?
- What am I most thankful for this Sukkot?
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach!
By gary, on October 12th, 2011
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