Friday, January 31, 5 Shevat 6:00 PM Kabbalat Shabbat Services with Rabbi Plumb and Ellen Allard Saturday, February 1, 6 Shevat 10:00 AM Shabbat Morning Services with Rabbi Plumb and Cantor Elana Rozenfeld Mussar Torah Study, 9:00 - 10:00 AM (For more information, see below)
Save the Date for our upcoming Mimosas and Mussar - led by Rabbi Plumb
Upcoming Mussar Classes
Foundations of Mussar Feb. 4th & 25th, 9:30-10:30 AM
In the last few weeks our community has supported four long time Mishkan families as they said final goodbyes to beloved family members. We have heard stories of laughter shared between sisters, granddaughters remembering special times around kitchen tables, food cooked with love, children mourning strong mothers and valiant fathers. As a congregation, we have wrapped our arms around the mourners - the Shermans', Kaitzs', Chafetzs', and Gershkowitzs'. We have helped carry them through these challenging days. Our Jewish rituals, such as the funeral rites and shiva prayers, have steadied them and given them a path that extends from the past into the future, as they adjust to a new reality.
In this week’s sedra, Parashat Bo, the Torah instructs us to create the first ritual designed to help us remember. The Israelites eat the first Passover seder to mark their experience as slaves, and their future as a people reborn into freedom. Just as we do at Seder, this week the Israelites share food with those they love.
As I read about the first seder, I think of those who will have an empty seat at their Seder tables; who will miss the special food cooked, or jokes told, by their beloved family member no longer physically present, but spiritually ever-present. Like our mourning rituals, the seder was designed to be a bridge from the past to the future. We remember our past, but look to the future with hope and trust.
This week, I pray that all who have lost loved ones, whether this week or in times past, will continue to feel the love their family members or friends had for them. I pray that we all are inspired by the seder and the Exodus story, to turn toward the future with open arms.
May this be a Shabbat full of love, comfort, gratitude and hope. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Marcia Plumb
Congregation Mishkan Tefila 384 Harvard St. Brookline, MA 02446
