The coldest weather of the year is ahead of us, but the days have already started imperceptibly getting longer. Especially during years like this one, when the winter solstice falls during Chanukah, it can feel a little bit like the increasing light of our candles has called back the increasing light of the sun. We’re nowhere near done with the cold, but we are done with the darkening of the days. From here until the end of June, every day brings more light.
This year, the b-mitzvah students and I are studying Jewish values. At the start of the school year we focused on teshuvah, repentance or return — the value at the heart of the Days of Awe. After that, we began a unit on b’tzelem Elohim: the idea that we are all made in the image of God.
In this season of gratitude, I want to thank all of you for being members of the CBI community and for all you do to strengthen and sustain our community. I also thank you for honoring me by re-electing me to my second one-year term as president at the recent Annual Meeting.
November this year mostly overlaps with the Hebrew month of Cheshvan. Among Ashkenazi Jews (Jews of Eastern European descent or who follow the customs of that part of the world) this month contains no holidays other than Shabbat.
I have just returned from the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), where 1,800 professionals and lay leaders met to discuss some of the critical issues facing our Jewish communities, locally and worldwide. I learned how people think about some of the significant issues facing us, whether we live in a smaller community, like the Berkshires, or a larger one. It was inspiring to meet with committed leaders from so many places.
“So we’ll be building our sukkah on Sunday,” I said to my kid a few days ago. “Wait, what?” he asked. “I thought Sukkot was a week and four days after Yom Kippur!” Nope, I told him: it’s just four days after. “Oh yay,” he said. “That means Sukkot is sooner than I thought!”
This is the speech that Natalie Matus offered at Rosh Hashanah services this year.
It’s Elul: the month that leads us to the Days of Awe and the new year. Ready or not, here we come.
As we approach the High Holy Days, we’ve entered a period of reflection and assessment. In addition to my own personal reflections, I am also very aware of the passing of one year and the beginning of the next in the communal life of Congregation Beth Israel. With a year under my belt as president, it is a time when I reflect both on what has gone well and what more we need to or can do.
As I write these words, it isn’t yet quite August. But believe it or not, we’re on the runway to the Days of Awe.
