Shabbat Shalom GRJC

Weekly Emails to the Congregation

Parshat Vayigash 2007

Shabbat Shalom to the GRJC family,

We light candles this Friday at 4:10 pm.  Our Friday evening service will begin at 8 pm.  The Men’s Club will lead our Friday service, and we thank Men's Club for sponsoring the Friday evening kiddush.

Saturday morning our Hay class will have its Shabbaton and lead us in our service starting at 9 am.

We read this week from the beginning of parshat Vayigash, the second to last reading in Sefer Braysheet (Book of Genesis).

After reading about Jacob’s reaction to hearing that his son Joseph is still alive, I found myself thinking about how we look at the world through lenses.  Up until this point, Jacob has been looking at the world through a lens of sadness and loss.  He has even had to contemplate the potential loss of Benjamin, the other son born to him by Rachel.  On hearing from his other sons that Joseph was not only alive but an important person in Egypt, the Torah records the following reaction, “The spirit of their father Jacob revived.”(Gen. 45:27)

It does not always take a major piece of good news to revive our spirits.  Sometimes we just have a good night’s sleep and the rest of the day feels better.  Perhaps our favorite team played a great game and we feel energized from that win.  There are the days when something “in the air” helps us to be more productive and feel more positive than usual.  All these moments help revive our spirits.

These moments, though, are gifts.  They do not come on a regular basis.  Instead of waiting and hoping for circumstances that will revive our spirits, we can be proactive and change the lens through which we see the world.  We can either try to change the lens or, as often happens with glasses, dust them off to get a clearer view.  Changing the lens is not always easy, and it is better done in a gradual way.  Instead of changing from “dark glasses” to “rose colored glasses” in an instant, we might try to find something in the middle first.

Can you think of a time a change of perspective caused you to feel transformed and in better spirits?

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
1.  Adult Ed – Sunday morning 9:30 am – This Sunday, join me for a discussion about the Jewish process of divorce.  We will study the procedures relating to the get, the divorce document.  As the life-cycle/holidays course comes to an end, we will also have time to brainstorm topics for future Adult-Ed class series.

2. Hebrew Naming Program – Kitah Shta’eem – Sunday at 11:45 am

I hope that everyone had a happy Chanukah.  May the lights of Chanukah stay with us through the rest of the winter season.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Tow

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