From the Rabbi

This week, in Parashat Yitro, we gather as a community at the foot of Mt. Sinai to ‘meet’ God face to face for the first time.  We hear God’s voice through the shofar blast and thunder.  We see God through fire and lightning.  According to Midrash, God whispers the Ten Commandments in each of our ears.  The midrash says that God tells each of us what is in the Aseret Dibrot in the way we can understand it.  In our secular calendar, this month we are marking Jewish Inclusion month and Black History month.  People with disabilities and people of colour often feel unseen, unheard and that their needs are unrecognised.  At a powerful session this week on inclusion run by CJP and the Ruderman Synagogue Inclusion Project, I heard a young autistic man, Jacob Artson,  talk about how unseen he often feels because people ignore him.  I also attended a session on inclusion for those struggling with mental health, who also feel unseen. 

According to the midrash, God sees each of us, in our uniqueness, and enables each of us to receive the Ten Commandments in our own way.  Perhaps if someone standing at Sinai was blind, God gave them the Ten Commandments in braille; or if poor eyesight, in a large print version; or gave them pictures if they couldn’t read well, or sang it to them if they would remember it better through music.  

Our task, our challenge and our privilege, is to ensure that each person in our community knows that we are all gathered at Sinai, then and now.  Each person belongs no matter their style of learning,  personal struggles, colour, gender or sexual identity,  or background.  And we can learn from each person. In the Inclusion session, Jacob Artson told us that his autism means that he needs to move quite a bit. This trait gives him the freedom to dance during the service when he feels the need to move because of the music.  People without autism might like to dance too but feel embarrassed.  His autism gives him the freedom to dance in prayer, when he wants and needs to.   

Each person in our community has something to teach and share.  Like at Sinai, all we have to do is listen and receive.  

This week, we say goodbye to a special person who has become part of our community.  Jamie has been an integral part of our admin team and we will miss her, and her beautiful son. Below is a message from her.  Please join me tomorrow at Shabbat morning services to wish her well.