Shabbat Shalom BEBY NEXTgen Community!
Hey Everyone,
Happy Friday! School is back in full swing - which of course makes everything more challenging at home. I'm really grateful to the school for trying to engage our kids through ZOOM classes with lots of worksheets and assignments to get through, but making sure everything happens is on us, which is a lot of pressure.
Sometimes we have to set our household mental health needs as the priority though. Playing hooky and taking a family bike-ride one afternoon this week for a properly distanced "driveway visit" with family was definitely a highlight for me.
Today and Shabbat are Rosh Chodesh Iyar - the beginning of the new month of Iyar. The Hebrew of Iyar אייר is explained to be an acronym for the Torah phrase - Ani HaShem Rofecha אני ה' רופאיך - I am HaShem who heals you. Iyar is a month of healing.
The Parshah this week, Tazria/Metzora is also about healing. It talks about a person who gets a particular sickness - tzara'at - and needs to be socially distanced (and quarantined) from the rest of the community to make sure that they can heal without afflicting others.
Tzara'at is a spiritual disease that traditionally happens to someone when they speak Lashon Hara - which is destructive and harmful speech, and gossip. It is a sickness about perceiving others negatively. Perhaps the value of the distancing is to make the person with the sickness recognize the value and importance of being an active part of a healthy community.
Our community has FAMILY SHABBAT every month. We can't do it in the shul, but we can do it virtually. So, once again, there will be a
BEBY FAMILY Pre-SHABBAT Program on ZOOM!
Date: Friday, May 1, 2020
Time: 5pm
Where: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84625061553
Stay tuned for a mid-week e-blast that will include the whole program.
Tonight at 6pm, the Chazzan will be LIVE on the Beth Emeth Facebook page to do an abridged musical kabbalat Shabbat. Tomorrow night he will be doing Havdallah.
The shul is constantly creating more virtual opportunities for learning, praying and connecting. Check out www.beby.org for a full listing.
If there is something that YOU want to see, please let me know by replying to this message. We will do our best to bring you what you want.
We, both the shul, but also more personally, Shira Rachel and I, are here for you during this COVID-19 experience. Physical and mental health are primary and we need to do everything possible and utilize every resource available to ensure that we stay healthy.
Please, do not hesitate to call or email, 24/7, for any reason:
Rabbi David - 647.207.0045 - rabbidavid@beby.org
Shira Rachel - 647.217.1276 - davidshirarachel@gmail.com
HELP B.E.B.Y. BE THE BEST IT CAN BE!
We are looking to create a community of involved leaders. Are you looking to...
- improve current programming?
- create new innovative programs?
- bring your expertise to our community?
Let me know and we will create our teams!
SHABBAT SHALOM!!!
Rabbi David,
Director of Ritual and NEXTgen Community
rabbidavid@beby.org
