Dear Congregation Beth Israel members and friends,

It happens like clockwork. As soon as we make it through the doorway of Shavuot, even when it’s still the month of May and school is still in session and summer is still merely a dream on the horizon, my mind starts singing me high holiday songs. This is the nature of the rabbinate, at least for someone who loves music as much as I do: the songs of the next season are always calling me, reminding me of the emotional and spiritual journey that they invite.

Sure enough, the morning after our Annual Meeting I was at work planning the high holiday prep class that R. David Markus and I will teach this year during the seven week runway from Tisha b’Av to Rosh Hashanah, from the year’s spiritual depths to the heights of beginning anew.

This year’s class is called “Worth a Thousand Words: Spiritual Imagery of the High Holy Days.” We’ll go deep into some of the season’s core prayers – Avinu Malkeinu, Kol Nidre, Unetaneh Tokef, and more – exploring their meaning, their history, their imagery, and how they support each person’s lifelong journey of growth and change. That class will meet on Tuesday nights starting right after Tisha b’Av (first class is July 28) – I hope you’ll save those dates and plan to join us. Every year I’m moved by how spending those seven weeks learning together enriches the experience of journeying through the holidays as individuals and as a community.

As much as I’m eager to teach that class, I also don’t want to rush us along! I love the particular sweetness of June, the hills finally all clad in vibrant new green, the branches of the willow behind the synagogue waving gracefully in the breeze. The scent of wild thyme underfoot as I approach our meditation labyrinth. The season’s first trip to Pedrin’s for fried mushrooms (me) and onion rings (my teen). Okay, that one’s not a spiritual experience per se (unless you really, really like onion rings), but it’s a joy of the season nonetheless.

I just pitched the board presidents on getting a hammock to put in the synagogue’s backyard, to encourage all of us to take time to pause and rest before or after Shabbat services… or to take in the Shabbat-feeling of listening to birdsong and breathing sweet herbs and enjoying the breeze even during the hectic flow of weekday time. (Would you use a synagogue hammock if we got one? Let us know!) I hope that we can all find, or make, time to savor what’s delicious about this time of year.

Fifteen years ago, at the start of July in 2011, I signed my first contract to serve Congregation Beth Israel. I couldn’t be more joyful that as we roll into June we’ve just extended my employment agreement for another five years. I feel so blessed. Thank you all for being the community that you are, and for giving me the privilege of serving you. I don’t take that for granted, and I’m deeply grateful to you all.

Here’s to another beautiful summer at CBI.

Blessings to all,

— Rabbi Rachel