Shabbat Shalom GRJC

Weekly Emails to the Congregation

Parshat Shelach 2007

Shabbat Shalom to the GRJC family,

This evening we light candles at 8:08 PM. Friday night services will begin at 8 PM and will be followed by the installation of new officers and trustees.

As part of our Saturday morning services, beginning at 9 AM, we will recognize newcomers to our community and welcome them to the GRJC family. Please join us for services and a special oneg afterwards. Many thanks to Melinda Goldberg and the membership committee and Gordon Remer on the executive board for putting together the program for this Shabbat.

This Shabbat is always a special one for me since 16 years ago I celebrated my Bar Mitzvah on the Shabbat when we read parshat Shelach Lecha from the Book of Bemidbar, the Book of Numbers.

As we read from the last third of the parasha this week, you may notice a familiar passage at the conclusion of this week’s reading. Numbers, Chapter 15, Verses 37-41 is the passage that we recite as the third paragraph of the Shema. In this passage we read about the “techelet” the blue dye that was used to color one of the strings of the tzitzit that are attached to the four corners of a tallit.

Techelet is a blue dye that comes from the Murex Trunculus snail. Over the course of time, the tradition of tying the blue thread to the tzitzit fell way. There are competing theories as to when it ended and why. However, over the past several years, organizations in Israel have claimed to be able to harvest the techelet again and have been producing blue threads for the tallit. At the same time, there are those who dispute the fact that these organizations have discovered the true “techelet”.

For the Rabbis of the Talmud, the blue dye resembled the sea, and the sea resembled the sky that, in turn, resembled God’s holy throne. The meaning of the techelet is eternal, even if the custom is no longer a strong part of Jewish culture.

MAZEL TOV  to our 4 year-old nursery school class who celebrated graduation today. YASHER KO’ACH to Hilaire Kay and Shirley Margolis who taught the 4's.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1. Sisterhood Torah Fund event – Wednesday, June 13th, at 6:30. 

2. Next Shabbat – We celebrate the Bar Mitzvah of Daniel Sapozhnikov as well as the adult Bar Mitzvah of his brother Lenny.

3. Rosh Chodesh Women’s Group – Monday, June 18th at 6:30 PM.

A peaceful and restful Shabbat to everyone,

Rabbi Tow
 

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