Shabbat Shalom GRJC
Weekly Emails to the Congregation
Parshat Bo 2008
Shabbat Shalom to the GRJC family,
This week we light our Shabbat candles
at 4:30 pm. Friday evening services will begin at 8 pm, and
Saturday morning services will begin at 9 am.
We welcome our two Gimel classes for their Shabbaton. They
will help to lead our services Saturday morning.
This week we read from parshat Bo that includes the final plagues.
When I was a unit head at Camp Ramah in the Berkshires, we had an
outbreak of lice in some of our bunks. It felt as though we
were reliving some of the plague against Egypt. Then there
was the plague of darkness. As I think about this
ninth plague, it reminds me of how I prefer to have the outside
lights on when I come home. It reminds me of standing in
Luray Caverns in Virginia and not being able to see my hand in
front of my face.
The Torah tells us that the plague of darkness brought a “darkness
that can be touched,” a palpable darkness that filled the land of
Egypt for three days. Bible scholar Nahum Sarna explains
this plague as a result of the chamseen, or sirocco, a wind that
would have carried thick soil and dust into the air. This
hot and fierce wind can continue for many days and darken the sky.
The Torah describes a darkness even greater than the one caused by
the chamseen. Ovadiah Seforno (16th century Italy) explains
this special darkness. He argues that it is unlike normal
darkness that sunlight eventually overtakes. Instead, for
three days it keeps out any sunlight making even the smallest
movement difficult.
When the darkness does itself allow light to penetrate, the night
sky shows us some amazing aspects of God’s creation. We can
see stars and planets without telescopes, and on a clear night we
can see the cloud of the Milky Way. There is the Aurora
Borealis and the mysterious St. Elmo’s fire. While the
darkness in Egypt was a plague, the darkness that covers us at
night can reveal some of the wonders of the universe. We can
give thanks to God for the wonder of the nighttime sky and how it
connects us to the beauty and vastness of the universe.
It may also remind us of how, through darkness, God worked to make
us free so that we could live as free people and look to the sky
at our ease.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
1. Adult Education – Rabbi’s Class – Sunday at 9:30 am. The
topic for this week is Jewish divorce and the Get, the divorce
document. We’ll explore the history and development of this
aspect of Jewish law and practice. We will begin to consider
the problem of the Agunah, the “chained woman,” and solutions to
this tragedy.
2. Adult Education – SAVE THE DATE – Scholar in Residence weekend
, Feb. 8 –9 - Join us as we welcome Dr. David Freidenreich
who will be presenting three events on the theme “Encountering
Islam: An Introduction for American Jews.”
3. Bogrim – Monday evening, Jan. 14th, 6:30 – 8:15 pm, Join the
“Bogrim Team”, our post-Bar/Bat Mitzvah group for teens.
This week: JEWISH STARS: WHAT'S COOL (OR UNCOOL) ABOUT
THE BEASTIE BOYS, MATISYAHU, SARAH SILVERMAN, KRUSTY THE KLOWN,
WOODY ALLEN, AND OTHER JEWISH CELEBRITIES—with guest speaker Jay
Rubin.
4. Shalom Baby Playgroup – Tuesday, Jan. 15th 10 am-11:30 am.
Please RSVP to the office if you’d like to attend.
5. Interfaith Bible Study Class – Tuesday, Jan 15th, 7:30-9:30 pm,
GRJC social hall. Join us as we explore the stories of
Genesis and learn together.
6. HEBREW CONVERSATION CLASS – Wednesday evening, Jan. 16th,
8-9pm, The class is starting this week. Please RSVP to the
main office, office@grjc.org or 201-652-6624.
7. Tot Shabbat and Shabbat Sheli (1st thru 4th grade) – Friday
January 18th at 6:30 pm.
Wishing everyone a peaceful and restful Shabbat,
Rabbi Tow
Back to Home
|
