This year is a Leap Year… twice. On the Gregorian calendar, we get February 29th, an extra day added every four years to more or less keep our 365-day calendar aligned with the sun. On the Jewish calendar, we get not an extra day but a whole extra month.
Who’s named and who’s not, what it means to remember (and forget) Amalek, and what this week’s Torah portion and Purim ask of us.
Good news — we are opening our doors to in-person worship and programs once again! The decreasing COVID-19 numbers in our community and the fact that the local risk level has moved from high to low means that we can once again meet in person. To ensure the safety of our most vulnerable, we will continue to require masks for everyone ages 2 and up. We will also keep seating spaced apart for those who wish to continue to practice social distancing. For those who are not able to attend in person for whatever reason, most services will continue to include a Zoom option.
This month brings Purim, our festival of costumes and masks and merriment.
When my son was little, he used to confuse the names Yom Kippur and Purim. One year he was very excited to wear a costume to Yom Kippur… until I regretfully informed him that Yom Kippur was not the costumes and silliness holiday!
He didn’t know it, but he was following in the footsteps of our sages.
I hope that you are all well and enjoying this season, no matter where you are spending your time. Though our synagogue building was closed last month due to the pandemic, our Rabbi, the Board, and Oliver Jones, our synagogue administrator, have been very busy. Our Hebrew School continued to meet in-person and by Zoom. Services have continued by Zoom on their regular schedule.
5782 is a Jewish leap year, which means we get an extra month. In most years, there is a single month of Adar. This year, we get two of them. The first one is happening right now….
Shavua tov — a good new week to you! And Chodesh tov — a good new month to you; the new lunar month of Adar begins tonight at sundown, which means it’s two weeks until Purim!
Join us for Shabbat services at 9:30am on Saturday morning led by Rabbi Rachel. This week we’re reading from parashat Terumah. If you’d like to read some commentaries on this week’s parsha, here are a few:
Here’s commentary from Steve Silbert and Rabbi David Markus at Builders Blog, a project of Bayit: Building Jewish:
And here are commentaries from the URJ:
Hope to see you soon at CBI. Save the date and join us at 6pm on Monday March 9 for Purim!
