Shabbat Shalom ~ Shabbat Parah 2025

Shalom WJC Family,

First and foremost I want to tell you how excited I am about our Scholars in Residence next week, Abigail Pogrebin and Rabbi Dov Linzer. This dynamic duo, a journalist who affiliates with the Reform Movement and is an active member of her temple and an Orthodox rabbi/master educator, promise to bring a dynamic, interesting, and enlightening weekend of learning to WJC. Together they published a commentary on the Torah portions, It Takes Two to Torah. 

The book is written as a dialogue between the authors on each parsha, and the unlikely pairing creates some profound and entertaining insights. And we will get to hear those kinds of dialogues live and in person next week. I hope you will join us and if you believe in this kind of pluralistic approach to learning, not to mention bringing great scholars to WJC for events like this, I hope you will support the SIR Weekend. You can check out the schedule and/or make a donation as well by clicking here.

I hope everyone had a happy Purim. Now, as we turn our sights to Passover’s approach, my weekly video is about this week’s special Shabbat Torah reading, “Parah.” The video quotes a Hasidic text about how to prepare ourselves spiritually for Passover by finding the good in ourselves and believing we can be part of bringing that goodness into the world. I think it is one of the most beautiful teachings from the Bretzlaver Hasadim, and that’s saying something! I hope you’ll check it out.

And then, I hope you’ll click this link and vote for Mercaz (Slate #17) in the World Zionist Congress Election. I know I wrote about this extensively last week, so I won’t belabor the point, but this is the absolute best way you can have a real influence on Israel’s future. Overall, voter turnout has already surpassed 2020 levels, making every vote for MERCAZ USA even more critical. We need your participation to maintain and expand our representation. If you have any questions about it, please don’t hesitate to ask me or Linda Alpert, who is spearheading our get-out-the-vote effort.

It should be a lovely Shabbat this week, with a regular Friday night service at 6:30pm (take note of this time because it will be the consistent time for Friday night services from now until Autumn). Then on Saturday we will celebrate the bat mitzvah of Emme de Sa – Mazal tov to her parents Marisa and Dan. Saturday evening we will gather at 6:45 (notice the times for Friday and Saturday night will diverge from now until Autumn) and Rabbi Dalton will be teaching while we enjoy a little nosh for seudah shlishit (the customary third meal of Shabbat).

Then on Sunday it’s SOJAC Community Day with opportunities to do mitzvot like  donate books and blood and laptops, as well as multiple opportunities to volunteer. I hope I’ll see you there!

See you in shul,

RJA