Parashat Ki Tisa "when you take" Exodus 30:11-34:35, Numbers 19:1-22
HafTorah Ezekiel 36:15-36
Dear friends,
As we approach the festival of Passover, we are about to experience another of the special Shabbatot that precede it--Shabbat Parah.
On this Shabbat, we read about the sacrifice of the red heifer (the parah adumah) meant to purify the children of Israel so that they would be ready ("pure") to sacrifice the Korban Pesach. Although this sacrifice is not practiced in a literal sense today, it is symbolized on our seder plate.
In addition to the special reading regarding the parah adumah, we also chant a special Haftorah from the prophet Ezekiel on the same theme of Shabbat Parah. Our weekly reading is also a particularly dramatic and meaningful one. In the Torah portion, Ki Tisa, Moses returns with the tablet containing the Ten Commandments only to find the community worshipping an idol made of gold, the Golden Calf. He breaks the tablet, but again pleads for this people, leaves to be with God again and returns with a new tablet and new resolve to rebuild the trust, holiness, and righteousness int he community.
It is in that context that we begin our preparations for Passover. By now, you have received the "save the date" invitation to join together virtually on Zoom on Saturday evening March 27th at 5:30 pm to read the first half of the Passover Haggadah and be together for the first seder albeit not in person. We fully expect our prayers for the pandemic to end soon to be answered and that next year we will celebrate Passover with our communal seder and all other holidays at the synagogue.
In the meantime, please join us on Zoom for Shabbat services tonight at 7:30 pm and tomorrow morning at 9:30 am.
Shabbat Shalom,
Ron Becker
Spiritual leader
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Friday:
JCC is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Shabbat Service
Time: Mar 5, 2021 07:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4979030958?pwd=YXJPT2FGVTdzVVV2bVQ3c1ZnS1lMZz09
Meeting ID: 497 903 09
Passcode: 5QdVaA
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Saturday:
JCC is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Saturday Morning Service
Time: Mar 6, 2021 09:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 497 903 0958
Passcode: 5QdVaA
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Ronald L. Becker
Professor Emeritus
Rutgers University Libraries
6822 Grand Boulevard
New Port Richey, FL 34652
727-819-1278
813-585-2286 cell
rbecker@emeritus.rutgers.edu