Dear friends,
As the summer is flying by, we are entering the preparatory season for the High Holy Days period. This week's Torah reading is Va-et'chanan (translated: I pleaded) from the book of Deuteronomy, the last book of the Torah. In this portion, Moses pleads with Adonoi to be able to enter the promised land with his people, and as we know, is once again denied. He then begins the first of several messages to the Children of Israel recapping their journey and exhorting them to obey the laws of God and be worthy of entering the land and succeeding in it. To further emphasize this, the Ten Commandments are chanted again. This Shabbat is also named Nachamu (translated: take comfort) as it is the first Shabbat after the tragedy of Tisha B'Av and includes the first of seven consecutive weekly Haftorot attributed to the prophet Isaiah to help us prepare spiritually for the High Holy Days.
I hope to be back in time to join you at services at 7:30 pm on Friday and 9:30 am on Saturday and wish you a Shabbat Shalom and seven weeks of comfort and consolation as we turn our attention to Rosh Hashanah and the new year of 5780.
Ron Becker,
Spiritual Leader
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