Shabbat Shalom GRJC

Weekly Emails to the Congregation

Parshat Tazria 2008

Shabbat Shalom to the GRJC family,

We light our Shabbat candles this week at 7:07 pm.  Friday evening, along with many synagogues in the area, we will be celebrating “Volunteer  Shabbat.”  We will take a few moments to thank some of the people in our community who give their time and energy in different ways.  We’re also holding a congregational Shabbat dinner (6:30 pm) where we will be welcoming new member families to our community.

This Shabbat Cole Flashenberg will become a Bar Mitzvah.  Sunday morning is Rosh Chodesh Nisan (New Hebrew Month of Nisan).  Kimberly Givant will become a Bat Mitzvah on Sunday.

This Shabbat is known as “Shabbat ha’Chodesh”.  This name comes from the beginning of Exodus Chapter 12, “HA’CHODESH hazeh…THIS MONTH shall be the first of the months of the year for you.”  The Maftir reading for Shabbat morning recalls how God established Nisan, the month of the Exodus, as the beginning of the year in ancient Israel.  While the Jewish calendar year for us begins in Tishrey, with Rosh Hashanah in the fall, the first of Nisan in the spring is the beginning of the holiday cycle:  Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot.

Our weekly Torah reading comes from the beginning of parshat Tazria.  The discussion of skin diseases in this week’s parasha is not scientific.  The Torah does not even seek to offer explanations for why an individual ends up with the various types of ailments that the portion describes.  The Torah describes their appearance and the way that the individual, under the supervision of the kohen (the priest), would monitor the condition.  In some cases, the condition goes away and the person purifies himself.  In other cases, the condition remains and the individual must live apart from the community.

An essential point in reading this material is the fact that the Torah does not distinguish between the spiritual and physical realities of the various diseases and conditions it describes.  God is speaking about these conditions to Moses and Aaron, and then it is the priest whom God empowers to diagnose and bring the individual through subsequent purification and reunification with the community when the time is right.  There is no “doctor” mentioned in the Torah.  The Jewish community and the priests, its representatives before God, handle disease.

It is important to think about how to continue the tradition of the Torah that suggests the unity of spirit and the physical self.  We sometimes talk about “mind over matter”, but what the Torah suggests is that mind and matter are one.  Sometimes the body can energize the spirit.  We know how exercise can make us feel better in spirit as much as we feel better about our endurance or appearance.  On the other hand, the spirit can energize the body.  We know how often we can infuse ourselves with energy by smiling or thinking about something that inspires us.

In what ways do we feel that our spirit is separate from our physical selves?  What might be a way to begin to reintegrate these parts of ourselves into more of a whole?

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
1.  VOLUNTEER SHABBAT – During our Friday night service this week we will take a moment, along with many other synagogues in the area, to recognize just a few of the many people in our community who volunteer their time in different places.  We will take a moment to recognize how important volunteerism is in Jewish tradition.  We hope this will be an inspirational moment for us all.

2.  WOMEN’S SEDER – Sunday, April 6th, 5 pm – The first Women’s Seder at GRJC!  It will be a special program with a meaningful perspective on the Passover story and rituals.

3.  WIDOWS AND WIDOWERS GROUP – Thursday, April 10th, 11:45 am – Join us for a special pre-Passover program with Rita Levin.  We’ll be learning about Passover in the Sephardi tradition and tasting some authentic Sephardi holiday foods.

4.  THE ZIMRIYA! – Thursday, April 10th, 7 pm – All our religious school students and our adult choir will lead us in songs of Israel in honor of Israel’s upcoming 60th birthday.  With all the words printed in a program, everyone will be able to join in to sing many songs that are familiar:  Halelulya la’olam, Yerushalayim shel zahav, and more.

With blessings,

Rabbi Tow

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