Dear friends,
The High Holy Days are now upon us with Rosh Hashanah beginning Sunday evening. To help us prepare, we have been reading Haftorot of Consolation, added a relevant psalm to all of our prayer services, participated in Selichot prayers and pyutim last Saturday night, and for those who are fortunate, heard the Shofar throughout the month of Elul. Now we approach the final Shabbat in the year 5779 and complete our preparations for the Holy Days.
Our Torah portion this week is Nitzavim and depicts the entire multitude of the children of Israel gathered before Moses to hear his third and final discourse. He encourages them to be strong and obey the commandments to ensure a happy world for them and future generations while warning them of the consequences of not doing so.
Ultimately, they stand at the brink of entering an entire new existence in their own nation, but without knowledge of what will occur when they enter it. Just as those people looked into the future with some confidence and some trepidation, so do we as we enter the new year of 5780 in our uncertain world. Like those who came before us, the future is indeed in our hands with rewards of moral behavior and consequences of the opposite.
So let us pray during these days of awe that we will indeed reach out to our family, friends, and community and help repair our fractured world in the year to come.
I look forward to seeing you Friday evening at 7:30 pm and Saturday morning at 9:30 am and of course, throughout this long holiday period.
Wishing you a good and sweet year. !שָׁנָה טוֹבָה וּמְתוּקָה
Ron Becker
Spiritual Leader