Dear friends,
Its been a bittersweet week as we remember Sandra Applefield who together with her late husband Larry were pioneers of our congregation and loved by All.
Sandy also served the community at large as several term member and chair of the very important Pasco County Mosquito Control Commission and was active in Hadassah and many other organizations. Fittingly, there was a large turnout at her funeral today, much appreciated by her family.
We were also saddened to learn of the death of our member Herb Sandler last month. Herb attended Friday night services regularly and ALWAYS had a big smile on his face! We wish the Applefield and Sandler families our sincere condolences. May they always be blessed with their memories and may they know no more sorrow.
Speaking of religious services, we have another full Shabbat weekend ahead of us with services tonight (Friday) at 7:30 pm and tomorrow (Saturday) at 9:30 am.
Our Torah portion of the week is Parashat Bo in which the remainder of the Ten Plagues are enumerated and the mitzvot (commandments) regarding the observance of Passover are given. The first plague that we will encounter is that of Locusts and almost on cue, East Africa is now suffering its worst locust plague in decades, a reminder of how fragile our earth is and how important it is to protect it.
Our Haftorah is from the prophet Jeremiah and tells of the conquering of Egypt by the Babylonians. It will be chanted by Gary Brevoort's sister who is visiting us from Massachusetts this week and this Shabbat also marks the anniversary of Gregory's (son of Barry and Paula Cohen) Bar Mitzvah. And of course, on Sunday at 11 am, we continue to study ALL of the mitzvot in our adult education session which is followed by our adult beginning Hebrew class at 12 noon.
So please join us this Shabbat weekend and be well.
Ron Becker
Spiritual Leader