Shabbat Shalom GRJC

Weekly Emails to the Congregation

Shabbat ha' Gadol 2008

Shabbat Shalom to the GRJC family,

We light our Shabbat candles this week at 7:21 pm.  Friday evening services will begin at 8 pm.  Saturday morning services will begin at 9 am.

This Shabbat, the Shabbat preceding Passover, is a special one for several reasons.  It is Shabbat ha’Gadol, the Great Shabbat.  The name for this Shabbat derives from the Haftarah that we will read Saturday morning.  The major theme of the Haftarah from prophet Malachi is restoration and redemption.  Through Malachi, God tells the people that there will again be sacrifices in the Temple, the Temple that had been rebuilt 70 years after its destruction by the Babylonians in 586 BCE.  There will also be a restoration of the relationship between God and humanity, as well as reconciliation between parents and children.

These themes coordinate well with the themes of Passover.  Passover teaches us about the saving and restoration of the Israelites as a people.  They come out of Egypt united as a free people who will later receive the Torah and accept the God of Israel.  They regain their former freedom and also achieve a higher level of unity and spiritual meaning in their new independent existence.

As we gather for our Seders this year, we can think about the blessings of freedom and what they mean to us.  We can think forward to the celebration of Israel’s 60th birthday and reflect on our place in the ongoing dream that is the modern State of Israel.

Since the first Seder begins Saturday evening, throughout Shabbat the custom is to eat egg matzah.  Ashkenazi Jews have the tradition of not eating egg matzah during Passover, but Ashkenazim can use egg matzah to get us through Shabbat.  We stop eating the egg matzah before sundown so that we can increase our appetite for the regular Passover matzah that we put out on our Seder table.

May all our Seders be full of wonderful questions, interesting answers, with good health and happiness for all.


ANNOUNCEMENTS

Please note the following times for daily services at the GRJC during the eight days of Passover:  9 am Sunday, 4/20; 7 am 4/21-25; 9 am Shabbat Service 4/26; 8 pm Saturday, 4/26, and 9 am Sunday, 4/27 (This final service includes YIZKOR).

Second Seder at the GRJC this Sunday evening, April 20.  We are expecting approximately 65 people from our congregation and the local Jewish community.  Thank you to Judi Forer for arranging this event.  GRJC offices will be closed in observance of Passover on Sunday and Monday, 4/20-21 and Sunday, 4/27.  Both Hebrew School and Nursery School do not meet again until Monday, 4/28.

Senior Aerobics will hold a makeup class on Wednesday morning 4/23 in the Social Hall.

Remember to save the following dates for Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day):  April 29 – GRJC memorial service and program featuring the film “Now After All These Years”; sundown on April 30 –light the yellow candle delivered to you by our Hay Class students; May 1 – Yom HaShoah with 7 pm Commemoration at Temple Sholom in River Edge.

A happy and healthy Passover to everyone,

Rabbi Tow

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