Rabbi's Message

Now that Purim is behind us, we turn our attention to Passover! Our liturgy helps us do this, as this Shabbat is Shabbat Parah. It is named for the parah adumah, or the red heifer, that we’ll read about in our special maftir Torah reading. Shabbat Parah always falls on the first Shabbat after Purim, and it represents the beginning of our preparation for Passover. The Talmud teaches that 30 days before Passover (right now we are only 25 days away!) we should begin our preparations. Have you started? Don’t worry, I haven’t either. Plenty of time! One way that our community has already started to fulfill one of the messages of Passover is by turning our attention to what’s happening in Israel. Every year at our seder we say L’Shanah HaBa’ah B’Yerushalayim – “Next Year in Jerusalem.” This expresses not only our wish for a trip in the near future, but also our hope for an Israel, and a world, that lives up to our values. Countries, just like each one of us, are constantly striving to live up to their values, and as we have been writing and speaking about, Israel is at a defining moment. Last week, Dr. Yizhar Hess, Deputy Director of the World Zionist Organization and former Executive Director of the Masorti movement gave us an update over zoom on his perspective of the situation. This Shabbat, we are thrilled to welcome to TBS Rabbi Yoav Ende. Rabbi Ende is the Director of the Hannaton Educational Center at Kibbutz Hannaton in the Lower Galilee. Many of our TBS trips have visited Hannaton over the years, and Yoav has always been a gracious host for us. He is doing tremendous work that has revitalized Hannaton and made it a model for pluralistic learning and community in Israel. Rabbi Ende has spoken at the current protests in Israel, and you can read the speech he gave at a rally in Haifa last Saturday night by clicking here. This Shabbat morning at services Rabbi Ende and I will be in dialogue about his work at Hannaton and the challenges facing Israel today. After kiddush, you are invited to join Rabbi Ende in the Rose Chapel/Jenofsky Beit Midrash for further conversation. I hope that you will join this Shabbat to welcome Rabbi Ende back to TBS, and to hear more about what’s happening in Israel today. Shabbat Shalom