Shabbat Shalom ~ Parashat Bereshit 2026

Dear WJC,

This week we concluded the cycle of fall holidays that begin our year, and we also marked the third Yahrzeit (on Shmini Atzeret), and the Gregorian calendar anniversary of October 7, 2023. On this day, in the word of this week’s parasha, “קוֹל דְּמֵי אָחִיךָ צֹעֲקִים אֵלַי מִן־הָאֲדָמָה׃” “our brother’s blood cries out from the ground!”

We can reflect that much has changed geopolitically, communally, and personally in the intervening three years, in some ways for the better but in many ways for the worse: the thousands of Israelis who have lost family members and a sense of home and normalcy due to this conflict; the increasing unease of being Jewish and/or associated with Israel in common spaces in American society; the intense fractures and disagreements the attack and ensuing conflict surfaced within and beyond our Jewish community; the anxiety over the future of what we hold most dear. Dignity, security, and peace for everyone seem ever distant and illusive.

Three years is both a long time and hardly any time at all. Perhaps in the grand scheme of things, we are still in the initial shock that began on that fateful day. We as individuals, the Jewish community, and all those invested and intwined with the fate of Israel have only just begun to take stock of the meaning and long-term consequences of what happened that day and since.

For me, one thing the past three years have highlighted is the power and potential that Jewish living and study have to guide us in steeling ourselves in the face of the antagonism around us. We are not the first Jews to face a hostile world: indeed, despite everything, many Jews throughout history would have given anything to trade places with us.  For our ancestors and for us, learning about and practicing Judaism grants us dignity, self-respect, and ways to interpret and understand a confusing world.

This is part of the work we do at WJC on a daily basis, and I am honored help lead our wonderful community in this process. If you’re sometimes unsure where or how you fit in, let me know how I can help you better find your way.

This shabbat we turn once again to the beginning of our annual study of the entire Torah with Parashat Bereshit. Kabbalat Shabbat begins at 6pm tonight, tomorrow morning there is a traditional service in the sanctuary beginning at 9:15, featuring a sermon by our recent Chatan Torah honoree Seth Schafler, and Simple and Soulful at 10am including the Bar Mitzvah of Jack Zaluski. Mincha tomorrow afternoon is at 6pm.

Shabbat Shalom,

Cantor Goldberg