BEBY Blasts

Shalom Everyone,

Winter break is here and we are all hopefully enjoying the extra familiy time. While programming is finished for 2021, there is a lot coming up in 2022.

There will be lots of opportunity to come together as a community, doing some outdoor winter sports, and connecting to each other and to nature.

I hope everyone has a great rest of your break and I look forward to seeing everyone in shul in the new year. In the meantime, stay safe and stay healthy!​​​​​​​

​​​​​​​SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE PROGRAMMING AND REGISTRATION INFORMATION!

Parshat Shemot 

Shmot is the name of the second book of the Torah and this week's parshah. The word Shemot, means names, and the parshah begins by listing the 12 sons of Jacob who moved, with their families, to live in Egypt. They were really successful in Egypt and the Egyptians decided to take advantage of the Israelites success and eventually turned them into slaves. 
 
When that happens, all of the names in the Torah disappear and everyone is only called by their titles. However, all of the names come back when Moshe – Moses – is born and named.  
 
In our lives, when we can call people by their own personal names, we are telling them that their unique life and personality is important to us. When we were in Egypt, our individual personalities didn't matter anymore: we were just "the slaves". When Moshe was born and named, he reminded us all that we have names of our own, and that we are each unique and special, and that HaShem created us each for a reason. 

A Rabbinic teaching (Midrash Tanchuma Vayakhel 35) teaches that we each have three names: the name were are given by our parents, the name(s) that other people call us, and the name(s) we call ourselves. They make clear that the name(s) we call ourselves are the most powerful and the most important.

So, how many names do you have?

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your Hebrew name?
2. What does your name mean? (If you don't know, then send me an email and I'll help you out!)
3. Do you think your name connects to your personality? Why or why not?
4. What name(s) do you prefer and why?

​​​​​​​Questions and Answers from Last Week:

1. What are three things you can say about yourself? 
I love Torah and Judaism. I love my family. No matter how many times I struggle, I will always try again.

2. How do your parents describe you?
A Rabbi who makes them so proud. (There are other ways too, but I'm going to be mindful of space...)

3. How do your friends describe you?
A nice guy who is a passionate teacher of Torah.

4. Which parts of those descriptions are the same? Which parts are different? 
The Rabbi/Torah part.

5. Are there parts of the descriptions that you like more or less? 
I like the descriptions, but there are other parts of myself that I want to improve.

6. What can you do to focus on the parts you like more?
Spend more time learning and teaching Torah, and trying my best to keep living life as Jewishly as possible.