|
HOME
Located just three blocks from the Atlantic Ocean in Virginia Beach, we are more of a family than just a congregation. We welcome you to our egalitarian daily evening minyan and Shabbat services, our social activities, our adult education meetings, our youth activities, and our monthly Shabbat dinners. We celebrate our Judaism through Torah, worship, and acts of loving kindness to repair the world. And we love to sing. Please join our holy community!
Click here for the president's message from Morris Elstein
RABBI'S MESSAGE:
On the third Shabbat of this
month we read from Parashat Vaera. In
this very moving Torah portion we read
of the impending fulfillment of God"s
promises made to the patriarchs,
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I see a very meaningful and
contemporary parallel between aspects of God"s promises and their
subsequent enactment, and the exciting
stage of growth and transformation of
our Temple Emanuel, which I would
like to share with you.
A key idea presented in the
beginning of Parashat Vaera involves a
declaration of a name change for God
with respect to the forthcoming
evidence of his power, might and
faithfulness to his word and previous
promises to the patriarchs. In Exodus 6:2, we read: "Vaera el
Avraham, el Yitzchak, v"el Yaakov b"el Shaddai" – "I appeared to
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as El Shaddai, but I did not make
Myself known to them by my name Adonai. Adonai will be the
new name used now in the context of release from the burdens of
slavery and servitude in general, leading to redemption of the
Jewish people and the loving embrace by God of his claiming the
Jewish nation to be his people. We are dealing with the same God,
but a different aspect of that God is now being revealed through
using a different name. It involves the strength, power and fidelity
to the intent of the original promise of relationship made at the
inception of Jewish history – that original relationship between
God and Abraham.
Especially in the East but also universally, name changes are
not without significance, often revealing shades of meaning and
purpose both of individuals and for entities. Rashi comments on
the significance of this name change at this juncture: " ‘I am the
Lord": faithful to reward those following
My path. I did not send you for nothing,
but to fulfill the promise I made to the
Patriarchs." By reference to that original
covenantal relationship, this is now the
God of release from bondage and
national redemption entering onto the
stage of world history. In this new phase,
all Jews are included as part of this
covenant. It becomes a time of new hope.
Indeed, the entire message of upcoming redemption in this
section (Ex. 6: 2-8) is upbeat. As noted by the great Torah scholar
Nehama Leibowitz in Studies in Shemot: "The sentiments uttered
in the passage were meant to fortify Moses" failing morale, to
clarify the message imparted to him at the bush. But most of all,
they were designed to boost the people"s morale, fortify their faith
and counter their despair and disillusion." (For more and other
interesting details on Nehama Leibowitz along with further insights
into this Torah portion, see my upcoming article for the Jan. 16
edition of the Jewish News.) Not only was this a critical moment ofcrisis then, but simultaneously present
were tremendous opportunities for
growth, transformation, magnificence
and grandeur that would impact not
only the Jewish people but the entire
community and indeed the world.
From my perspective, Temple
Emanuel shares parallels of tremendous
opportunity for growth and
transformation now as well. Thanks to
the generosity and kindness of those
directing several charitable funds,
Temple Emanuel is now able to offer
some extremely innovative and creative
programming that will be of interest to
the entire community. In particular,
support from the Simon Family
Foundation has now enabled us to offer
programs of interest and quality
commensurate with congregations ten
times this size. Kudos need to be
expressed and extended to Beth Gross,
our educational director, and Gary
Tabakin, our third vice president, who
have worked unceasingly in conjunction
with The Institute of Southern Jewish
Living to prepare and disseminate
professional media publicity for our
upcoming programs. Be sure to attend
all of them, and bring several friends
with you to each one who are
unaffiliated with us!
Just as the Jews in slavery were in
crisis with hidden opportunities as
Moses stepped up to the scene, Temple
Emanuel now is greeted with
tremendous opportunities and
possibilities. In order to continue to
capture our positive momentum and go
forward, we need to augment the
priority level that many in our greater
membership assign to our collective
endeavor. Many have already stepped
forward both in terms of financial
generosity and the volunteering of time
and effort for supporting our Temple
programs. However, as Steve Harwood
points out in his article in this bulletin,
the reality is that 75 percent of our
membership on a numerical basis is not
covering what would be figured as their
"true fair share" of member pro-rated
costs required to even cover our present
level of services. The resulting deficit
then has the practical effect of diverting
other contributions that could be used in
new important areas such as
endowments, scholarship funds and
programming in order to cover regular
operating expenses.
As your Rabbi, I am very grateful
to be here serving our community; and
having experienced some challenges
previously in my own life, I can
understand many situations from both
sides of the fence. I would simply ask
this: Please reach within yourself to help
our community as much as you can, in
every way that you can. At the same
time, please actively share the message
of what we are trying to collectively
accomplish with those on the outside of
our present membership with a
commitment to bring in as many new
members as you can. Just like our place
in the world at large as Jews, those of
you who affiliate and support our
synagogue are part of the "remnant of
Israel" that makes all the difference.
Let me wish all of you, y'all (!) a
very healthy, happy and fulfilling 2012
ahead!
Sincerely,
Rabbi David Barnett
|
