Rabbi Howard Morrison

Dear Congregational Family,

Over this weekend, the beginning of Summer leads into Rosh Chodesh Tammuz. The former begins on Shabbat day. The latter begins Sunday night through Tuesday.

With Summer, we celebrate warmth, being outdoors, and going on vacations. This year, with continued concerns about safety and health, many familiar Summer activities will be cancelled or curtailed, such as camps, making distant vacation trips, and more. With the gradual reopening of many kinds of places and activities, I encourage us to continue exercising caution.

The Summer on the Jewish calendar is also tempered. Beginning with the seventeenth day of Tammuz, we usher in three weeks of sadness. We contemplate the many internal wrongdoings of our people which led to the destruction of our Holy Temple not once but twice in antiquity.

With our modified Summer plans necessitated by Covid-19, coupled by the somber tone of three weeks in the Jewish calendar, I encourage us to enjoy, be cautious, and to reflect - all at the same time and in proper moderation.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Howard Morrison