Parashat Bereshit October 5, 2018

--> We always like to talk about new beginnings, yet I am not sure that new beginnings have the impact people want. We know that many who make New Year “resolutions” may change their behaviors (work out more, eat healthier, spend less time on the internet….) for a few weeks but usually fall back into the same patterns as before. Perhaps new beginnings aren’t so much about radical change but about looking back at the good things that we do and trying to reinforce them. My best example is the cycle of Torah Readings that is a hallmark of the Jewish Calendar. You may notice that sometimes, like today, the blog title lists the name of the weekly Torah Reading. In fact, all Jewish calendars note which portion of the Torah reading we are performing that week. This week, Genesis or Bereshit, is the first chapter of the Bible, where we read the story of Creation, the Biblical origin of Man and Woman, and the early development of societies as we know them today. We do this each year, reading the Torah in sections beginning the week after Sukkot and culminating in Simchat Torah, which we celebrated Monday in Israel and Tuesday in all other countries (more on that in a moment). This annual cycle teaches us that “New Beginnings” are not really “New”; that life is really a cycle and that we need to review, reflect and learn something new from every day, because as events happen, if we do not learn from what came before us, we will repeat the same errors. The lesson of the Torah cycles is that no matter how ancient, and how many times we encounter the same situation, or think we know how to react to a particular person, place or thing, we need to learn something new and use our experiences to grow, to appreciate and to make things better. In Simchat Torah we don’t just celebrate the culmination of the annual cycle of Biblical readings, we immediately read from Genesis as if to say the reason for ending is to begin again, to learn more and take advantage of our experience. This is truly something to Celebrate!

 

And celebrate we did! When we left off last week, we were heading into Shabbat in Neve Daniel, where Elan and Nomi live. Neve Daniel is located on a hill outside of Jerusalem and in general, it’s a few degrees cooler and breezier than most of the country. Not this weekend! The temperature was in the low 30’s and very warm. Great weather for sitting outdoors in the Sukkah over Shabbat. Our niece Jenna and her best friend from Edmonton, Shelli, joined us and we had a great time. Nomi and Elan hosted Friday night dinner and Gila and Ariel joined us, then for Shabbat lunch we went to Geula and Yitzhak Twersky, Gila’s parents. It’s so much fun to see all the cousins together! Shoshana, now 10, sets the tone, like the eldest usually does, but there are lots of great interactions. Ora (18 months old), Ariel’s youngest is in love with Shlomo (age 7); Elisha and Nadav, both 4 ½, born 10 days apart, cause trouble together; Aryeh who is turning a year soon, is standing and taking steps and scoots across the house at blinding speed on all fours. Ora and Aryeh play together nicely, except when they get into a pushing match…It’s terrific fun to watch and enjoy constantly!

Sunday we went to the park with all the kids in the morning and in the PM went to the major Jerusalem Mall (Montreal connection-Azrieli built it like most malls in Israel) with Elan’s kids to cool off. The place was packed, especially the food court! The trip from their suburb to the mall was 18 minutes, thanks to the expansion of a cross Jerusalem highway called the Begin. Amazing what good roads will do and how quickly things can be built (in contrast to our Orange Cone filled landscape in Montreal)

Sunday night and Monday were Simchat Torah. We celebrated in a smaller Synagogue in Neve Daniel, maybe 100 families (the main synagogue is a 15 minute walk, this one was 5), and it was amazing. I have always wondered why Yom Kippur, with it’s solemnness, praying for hours on end, and fasting is probably the greatest day in terms of synagogue attendance. It should be Simchat Torah! We spend hours singing and dancing in Synagogue, we eat great food, we drink a bit, but the focus is on celebrating the Torah, celebrating who we are and what we stand for. The energy of the kids, young and old, singing and dancing, was inspiring. All the little ones were on their parents (or grandparents!) shoulders, so no one missed a beat and people were super involved. It was really great.

Speaking of inspiring, I want to highlight a short video that our friend Alvin Small sent; the story of ADL Director Abe Foxman, who survived the Holocaust as a young child by being hidden by righteous Gentiles. After liberation, his father took him to synagogue for the first time on Simchat Torah. What transpires is tremendous and underlines the unique nature of this underappreciated holiday. You can read the story here, and I will try to repost the video.

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1187943/jewish/Soldier-Survivor-Have-Emotional-Reunion.htm  

The last few days in Israel, were spent with the kids on Tuesday (as they had one more day off school), then closing down the Netanya apartment and flying back to “reality”. But considering what we have done in the few weeks between St. Louis, Montreal and Israel, it’s a very good reality!  The flights home were smooth, although with flights packed with children returning home from holidays in Israel we could not get much sleep. On the other hand, there were 12 hours of Moti’s stories and not one was repeated!

I would be amiss if I did not properly quote our good friend Rabbi Yehoshua Grunstein said during his talk at Beth Zion. He spoke about the Jewish New Year period and asked the question if the period between Rosh Hashana-and Yom Kippur (known as the 10 days of Repentance) was a time for a Radical Makeover. He stressed that what we need to do to make changes in our lives is go by little increments, just try a little harder, do a little more, be realistic and not expect radical changes in behavior. As we reflect on the New Beginnings of our cycle of Torah reading, as in family and life, learning just a little bit more all the time will keep us renewed, refreshed and focused on what’s important!

We wish everyone successful new beginnings and a Wonderful Shabbat Shalom!

Barbara and Bruce

Mazel Tov to Haim Fruchter who was honored in Beth Zion as Chatan Bereshit!

Mazel Tov to Rabbi Yitzchak Twersky who was honored in Bet Midrash Derech Avot as Chatan Torah!
Mazel Tov to Willy Lieberman who was honored in Beth Israel Beth Aaron as Chatan Bereshit!

Happy Birthday to Nomi-our amazing daughter in law and Hostess for this Chag

Happy Birthday to Daniella- our amazing daughter in law and Hostess for Rosh Hashana

(Not to forget Gila, our other amazing daughter in law but her birthday is in February)

Happy birthday to Haim!