All Shabbat Services this Week are Hybrid - please join us in our Sacred Space or on Zoom
Friday, March 25, II Adar 22 6:00 PM Please join Rabbi Plumb and Zach Mayer for an IN-PERSON and online "From Our Home to Yours" Kabbalat Shabbat Service.
Saturday, March 26, II Adar 23 9:30 AM Please join Rabbi Marcia Plumb and Cantor Ellen Band for an IN-PERSON and online for a “From Our Home to Yours’ Shabbat Morning 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
An Evening with Author Charles Dellheim April 6 - 7:30 PM
If you are observing a yahrzeit or saying kaddish and need a minyan on a different evening, please let us know and we will make it happen - contact Toni.
We Remember: This week's upcoming Yahrzeit Observances
Saturday Clarice Oppenheim Beverly Kohen
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday Inez Diamond Kelso Minna E. Grossman Herbert J. Selib
Wednesday
Thursday Barbara Maletz Judith Sarver
Friday Hyman B. Chafetz
Notes from Toni...
Our parshah this week, Shmini explains the many laws of kashrut, and how the Israelites can make themselves as pure as possible. Many Jews have continued to uphold these customs, where others have made the decision not to do so. With the detailed rules about what to eat and what not to eat, G-d explains that each one of our actions impacts ourselves as well as others. Centuries after G-d explained this phenomenon to Aaron and his sons, Sir Isaac Newton made the claim that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
As Jewish people, we must consider that every action we make, causes some other reaction in our world. Currently, we are living lifestyles that are producing a significant reaction on our environment. In conjunction with the laws of kashrut that are taught in this portion, we can develop a set of expectations for how our actions could better impact the environment.
As I have studied, read and re-read the laws of kashrut, I have chosen the belief that what I consume does not make me a better or worse Jewish individual. Your neshama and your actions create the Jewish identity in you. Why was it so important to mediate what the Israelites were eating? The root of the word adamah (earth) is closely linked to Adam. This relation kept the fruits of the earth close to that of the human. I try and follow a set of guidelines that impacts my family’s footprint on the environment in ways that keep me mindful. I try and shop for in-season produce and support smaller business and communities when possible. I look to keep the relationship with the land and the person consuming the products as it was intended, just in a slightly different way.
The concept of eco-kosher has been adopted by many communities and subscribes to the ideals of not necessarily modifying what food you are consuming, but what products. It also calls into question the use of those products as it relates to being a Jewish person and a part of a Jewish community. If the origins of kashrut were due to the purity of individual and environment, it can be argued that addressing how we make consumer decisions with respect to the environment is just as important.
As a community we work towards some eco-kosher goals. We use recyclable or biodegradable materials at our Festive Friday dinners, we have drastically increased our email communication in lieu of paper mailings, and we adjust our heating and cooling of our space to reflect when we are in-person versus gathering virtually.
This week, I hope that everyone finds one way to bring a little bit of eco-kosher into their lives. I also wish that we each take some time to be mindful about our actions and the possible reactions they can cause on ourselves, others, and the environment around us.
Shabbat Shalom, Toni Spitzer Administrative Director
Congregation Mishkan Tefila 384 Harvard St. Brookline, MA 02446
