Rabbi Howard Morrison

In this week's Parsha, we read that the Lord remembered Sarah. That verse and narrative are also read on Rosh Hashanah, known as Yom Hazikaron, the day of Remembrance. According to tradition,  God took note of Sarah's infertility on Rosh Hashanah and promised her a child, who would be Isaac.

This week is truly one of remembrances. Thursday, November 10, marks the eighty-fourth anniversary of Kristallnacht, which also culminates Holocaust education week in our community. We shall remember and never forget is a dogma for all Jews after the Shoah.

Friday, November 11, is Remembrance Day. We remember all Canadians who gave their lives on the battlefields for the sake of the freedoms we cherish. They made the ultimate sacrifice.

This Coming Shabbat also commemorates the fourth anniversary of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting which took place on 18 Heshvan (October 27) 2018. The terrorist murdered eleven people including several Holocaust survivors on this date. It was the deadliest attack on a Jewish community in the United States. We remember that such an act of hatred could have taken place at any synagogue or any Jewish gathering. 

Please take time this week and focus on these themes of remembrance and their lessons for us today. 

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Howard Morrison