Our community meets in different ways. Our Family learning with the B'nei Mitzvah class and their parents-Differences between Sephardi and Ashkenazi Judiasm. Our revived Monday Afternoon Club and our Young Folk in our Delving into Judiasm meeting for an exhibition and coffee last Sunday. Nothing thrills me more than this. We talk of being of 'being busy with the words of Torah' but this is being busy with fellow congregants and learners. How good is this? Parashat Tetzaveh tells us B'nei Yisrael were told to light a Ner Tamid, an Eternal Light as a statute forever, for all generations.
And you shall command the children of Israel, and they shall take to you pure olive oil, crushed for lighting, to kindle the lamps continually...[it shall be] an everlasting statute for their generations...(Exodus 27:20-21)
I wonder if that crushing of olives and illuminating the lights was, in other words, keeping the community running, alight, and connected. The gradual return to our building and the connections that switch us on are key, whether in our classes, our friendships or our services. As Monty often reminds us there is joy in belonging. And so there is.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Rebecca