Today is March 28, 2024 /

Shabbat Shalom ~ Vayikra

Dear WJC Family,

In the regular Torah cycle, this week is Parshat Vayikra, the beginning of the Book of the Torah with the same name. Vayikra (Leviticus) is the priestly book. It deals mostly with the laws of sacrifice and ritual observance in the Tabernacle. For my Dvar Torah about Vayikra called, “The Gift of Order and Time,” click the video link at the end of this email. This one is a little longer than usual, but it contains a number of teachings that I think will be particularly relevant and useful for this moment.

I am also writing this message on Thursday, Rosh Hodesh Nisan, which means that the first seder is less than two weeks away. I know that many of us have been thinking about Passover with a combination of grief and paralysis. That is totally understandable and I am feeling it too. One member of the WJC family sent me a poignant article about the grief and anxiety most of us are feeling from the Harvard Business Review called, “That Discomfort You’re Feeling is Grief.”  It is worth the read to help us process our emotions right now.

And yet time is flying and I would like to help us all make plans for the Passover that will be, not the one that might have been. As such, the rest of this email will be some answers to FAQs I’ve been receiving about Passover and resources for planning your own Passover seder if either you’ve never hosted one before or you’ve never hosted one for one or two people before or just your immediate family (special thanks to Cantor Goldberg for many of these links). See the FAQs below.

Looking forward to seeing you at all of our regular pre- and post- Shabbat times:

Friday at 5:30pm – Ta’am Shabbat – A Taste of Shabbat at WJC
We welcome Shabbat with a taste of our Friday evening and Saturday morning services. There will be singing, Torah reading, a Dvar Torah from one of our rabbis and a kavanah or intention for lighting the candles and starting a Shabbat of peace and warmth together.    
Join us: https://zoom.us/j/681899721

Saturday at 8:30pm – Havdalah with the WJC Clergy
Join us as we say goodbye to the quiet of Shabbat with the beautiful symbols and music of havdalah!    
Join us: https://zoom.us/j/335351155?pwd=UHdDSitkSmFqSXh1N3UvOFdiTlFrUT09

Something I wish to bring to your attention: many of you do not know that we have an outside media consultant named Kate Schlientz. She works off-site, so even fewer of you have met her. We all owe Kate huge debt of gratitude! We could not be managing as well as we are without her expertise, commitment, and availability. Thank you Kate!

See you online,

 

 

 

 

 

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