Lech Licha 2025 – Faith is not Supernatural

Shalom WJC Family,

One of my priorities for this year is reinforcing some of our connections with other local houses of worship and their faith communities. For example, I hope you could attend our Yom Kippur afternoon program with Father Tierney and Father Angelov. Another special event coming up that gives us a chance to connect with our neighboring communities is the Larchmont Mamaroneck Interfaith Thanksgiving Service on Sunday, November 16, at 4:00 pm. I am excited to tell you that this year, it is WJC’s turn to host. I hope you will join us and help us warmly welcome our guests from several area churches and Larchmont Temple. The event will include a collection of non-perishable goods for the Larchmont Mamaroneck Hunger Task Force Food Pantry. What better way to show our shared gratitude for what we have than to share it with those who have less, especially as it appears food services for so many are about to disappear due to the government shutdown.

Speaking of which, we will host our annual Mitzvah Day earlier that morning. Events will include many food-related projects and a craft project for children to benefit our young friends at Room to Grow. There will also be projects to benefit our friends at the Community Resource Center, local police, security guards, and more. I hope you will join us in the morning, and if you are interested in helping us do more Social action-oriented mitzvah projects, you want to be involved in our SOJAC Committee. Let me know if you might be interested in helping out on this front.

A few more upcoming events to note:

Kristallnacht Commemoration: Screening of ‘SHTTL’: Sunday, November 9, from 9:30am – 1:00pm. Join us for a screening of the extraordinary, multi-award-winning film ‘SHTTL’ and meet its starring actor, Moshe Lobel. In a single unflinching shot, the film vividly portrays the life of a Yiddish village in the hours before the German invasion of Soviet Ukraine in 1941.

Shabbat Morning 101: This Shabbat morning, we welcome back our Rabbinic Intern to lead the popular Shabbat Morning 101 program. Interested in getting more out of your Shabbat morning experiences and just generally being able to access Jewish prayer experiences more fluently? This is the program for you.

Upholding Human Dignity in Turbulent Times: November 17-18. I wanted to make the community aware of an important gathering occurring at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City. This is a nonpartisan and interreligious convening to affirm and uphold the many forms of human dignity that are currently under threat. Find out more and/or register here.

We are looking forward to sharing a beautiful Shabbat.

See you in shul,

RJA