Shabbat Shalom GRJC

Weekly Emails to the Congregation

Parshat Vaera 2008

Shabbat Shalom to the GRJC family,

We light candles on Friday at 4:23 pm.  Friday evening service will begin at 8 pm, and Saturday morning services will begin at 9 am.

During Friday night services we will celebrate all JANUARY BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES!  Join us for a special blessing and songs.

We read this week from parshat Vaera, the second Torah portion in Sefer Shemot, the Book of Exodus.

It appears from Moses’ story up until now that God is certain Moses must be God’s representative to Pharaoh.  At the same time, it is not fully clear to me why Moses is the right person for the job.  Let’s take a look at the criteria we might use to measure whether Moses is right for this position.

-- Willingness – Moses questioned his ability to take this responsibility from the beginning.  Toward the end of last week’s reading Moses says, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and free the Israelites from Egypt?”(Ex. 3: 11)  Then, Moses tells God that the people will not believe him when he tells them God sent him.(Ex. 4:1)  Finally, Moses says to God, “O Lord, Make someone else your agent.”(Ex. 4:13)

-- Ability – Moses says three times that he is “slow of speech and slow of tongue”.  Something is wrong as far as his ability to enunciate and express his thoughts.  Jewish tradition suggests that either he had a speech impediment or, as scholar Nahum Sarna wrote, “…a lack of eloquence or a loss of fluency in the Egyptian language.”(JPS Exodus commentary p. 21)

-- Experience – Moses was never a slave like the other Israelites.  He witnessed and empathized with them, but he never did the backbreaking work they had to do.  When an Israelite slave spoke to him, the slave suggested that Moses was acting as a ruler or judge over them.

With all this knowledge about Moses’ background, does he still look like the best candidate for the job of delivering the Jewish people from Egypt?  Why did God choose him to go before Pharaoh?  Please share your thoughts with me via rabbi@grjc.org.

MAZEL TOV to all our GRJC members who were sworn in and/or recognized for their ongoing service to the Boro of Glen Rock at last evening’s Reorganization Meeting.(I have attempted to compile a complete list.)

Rona McNabola
Simon Toffell
Dr. Carl Renner
Marc Sabow
Bella Fellig
Jordan Kirsch
Lorraine Stern

And a special Mazel Tov to Councilman Art Pazan who was appointed as President of the Council at last night’s meeting.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1.JANUARY BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES – We celebrate all January birthdays and anniversaries Friday night during our 8 pm service.

2.JUNIOR CONGREGATION – Saturday morning at 10 am.  A fun learning experience for parents and students.

3.ADULT EDUCATION – There will not be a class this Sunday morning at 9:30.  The next class will be the following Sunday, January 13th.

4.SUNDAY AM MINYAN/BREAKFAST AND DISCUSSION – “How to avoid injury for the weekend warrior” with Dr. Michael Stewart, Sunday, January 6th, Minyan at 9:00 am/Breakfast 9:30 am.

5.KITAH SHTA’EEM NAMING PROGRAM – 11:45 am

6.WOMEN’S ROSH CHODESH GROUP AND TU BI’SHEVAT SEDER– Sunday evening at 6 pm.  Ushering in the new month of Shevat with a meaningful spiritual dialogue and learning.

7.BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING – Tuesday, January 8th at 8 pm.

8.WIDOWS/WIDOWERS GROUP – Thursday, January 10th, 11:45 am.  Join us for some comedy, and for learning about the different New Year celebrations in Jewish tradition.

9.GIMEL CLASS SHABBATON – Saturday, January 12th, 9 am.

10.SHALOM BABY at GRJC – Tuesday, January 15th, 10 am – 11:30 am.  Join us for for a special playgroup for our little ones.

11.INTERFAITH BIBLE STUDY CLASS – The first Interfaith Bible Study class will take place at the GRJC, Tuesday, January 15th, 7:30 – 9:30 pm.  Taught by Pastor Roger Spencer and Rabbi Tow.  Please bring a Bible with you to the class.  We will be studying Genesis chapters 1 and 2.  The second class will be at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church on Feb. 19th.

12.HEBREW CONVERSATION CLASS with Rachel Blumenstyk – Beginning January 16th, 8-9 pm.  Please RSVP to the main office, 201-652-6624, or office@grjc.org.

13. PLEASE SAVE THE DATE -- for our Scholar-In-Residence weekend with Dr. David Freidenreich:  "Encountering Islam:  An Introduction for American Jews." February 8-9, 2008.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Tow

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