Shabbat Services this Week are In-Person and Virtual
Friday, October 29, 23 Cheshvan 6:00 PM Please join Rabbi Plumb and Tutti and Ron Druyan for In-Person and Virtual Kabbalat Shabbat Services. CLICK HERE TO R.S.V.P. TO IN-PERSON SERVICES
Services will be on Zoom and Livestream as well.
Saturday, October 30, 24 Cheshvan 9:30 AM Please join Rabbi Plumb and Rabbi Lev Friedman, with Torah reading by Yosef Rumshiskiy for Shabbat morning prayer for our In-Person and Virtual "From Our Home to Yours" Service.
If you have a simcha, please share it with us and receive a special blessing from Rabbi Plumb during an upcoming Shabbat service. Sponsor a Kiddush by virtually inviting us to your home as you lead the community in KIddush and HaMotzi prayers. (we will provide challah and grape juice!) Please contect Rosalie Reszelbach, Janet Stein Calm or Toni Spitzer to arrange.
Please click here for the link to the new Conservative prayerbook, Siddur Lev Shalem: Shabbat Shaharit Siddur Lev Shalem The prayers will be the same as in our usual blue siddur, so feel free to use that instead if you wish.
Please click here for the link to the page numbers for Shabbat morning prayers in Sim Shalom (Blue) and in Lev Shalem Page Numbers for Shabbat Morning
And the life of Sarah was one hundred years, and twenty years and seven years, the lifetime of Sarah.
The first verse of our parasha this week, Hayei Sarah, is written in a very odd way. It is full of repetitions. Instead of telling us in a simple way how long Sarah lived, ie 127 years, the verse tells us her age in stages. Sarah was 100 years, plus 20 years, plus 7 years. The word ‘years’ repeats three times.
The verse also begins and ends with the same phrase--chayei sarah, the life of Sarah.
The perek (verse) is telling us that Sarah’s last act in her lifetime is to look back and reflect on significant stages in her life. Her first 100 years consisted of her time with Abraham before they had children. During her first 100 years, she traveled widely, inspired and converted many, and loved her husband deeply. With him, she mothered a monotheistic religion that would last through eternity.
During this period she also suffered at the hands of two kings, with the disturbing collusion by her beloved Abraham. The year 100 was important to Sarah, because Abraham was 100, and she was 90, when she gave birth to their beloved son Isaac.
During the next 20 years, she worked hard to raise Isaac, keep him safe, and feel good about herself as a mother, despite the existence of Ishmael and his mother Hagar.
Finally, in the last stage, the last 7 years of her life, with great pride, she saw her son grow into a man.
The verse repeats hayei sarah, Sarah’s lifetime, because Sarah began her life with hope and full of potential. She ended her life with hayei Sarah because she was able to look back and reflect on her life.
A friend of mine, Phyllis, is dying at the moment because she chose to reject treatment for cancer. She discussed her decision with me years ago. She decided she would not worry about the days that she would miss in the future. She wanted as many days as she had left to be what she calls ‘good days.’ She did not want her days ruined by chemo symptoms. She has spent the last month doing what Sarah did--looking back at the various stages of her life and appreciating each one. She is teaching me to live with what I have right now, and at the same time, try to make each day a ‘good day,’ a day with no regrets.
The American phrase, ‘Have a good day,’ is often said as a casual way to say goodbye. Phyllis and Sarah have taught me a deeper understanding of this sentence.
How do we measure the days of a life? By how many days are ‘good’ days, full of love, hakarat hatov, seeing the good, and being the person we can be proud of. Phyllis is why I love the song from Rent that we have brought into our Rosh Hashanah services: Seasons of Love
This Shabbat, may it be a good day, filled with love, gentleness and kindness to yourself and others.
Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Marcia Plumb
Congregation Mishkan Tefila 384 Harvard St. Brookline, MA 02446
