Dear Friends,
One of the most purposeful experiences of my year has been the group work I've done with our b'nai mitzvah students. Together, we learned and practiced the varied synagogue rituals aligned with the Torah service, bringing fluidity to steps, and meaning well beyond the scope of that portion of our worship experience. We learned how to bless and how to receive blessing, reflected on how to carry the
mitzvot and responsibilities of an "adult" Jew in community and mined one another's wisdom about the Jewish lens on everyday questions and experiences in life.
The most meaningful and moving moment for me emerged as both part of and witness to a moment of deep revelation. We concluded our final session learning the practice of
hagbah/lifting the Torah scroll high in the air to reveal several columns of script. While I could describe with detail precisely how to lift the Torah, I had never done so before. That evening, as I lifted the Torah into the air, exposing the columns of sacred text, I felt myself in proximity to my ancestors, receiving lessons for the future. Overcome with the joy of connecting to such a holy moment, I felt the embodied presence of Torah, rooting me as deeply as the tree of life it represents.
One would think nothing could surpass a personal experience of revelation. And then, I offered the students the opportunity to lift the Torah. They all RAN to get tallit so they could lift the Torah individually. What a joy to watch each student take a moment to set themselves before the scroll and lift it into the air. What a thrill to experience the pure joy illuminating the room as they cheered one another on. What a gift to witness the students as they worked together to wrap and dress the scroll and return it to the ark. They brought themselves, their sense of sacred responsibility, and their connection to our tradition and one another into that sanctuary to attend to the needs of the Torah. In doing so, they invited a moment of divine revelation and true hope for the leadership of our future. A holy, sacred, team of mitzvah makers, these bar and bat mitzvah students were recipients of deep Torah. I pray when they look back on their time at Habonim, they'll remember the thrill of lifting that Torah and feeling it carry them as they worked together in blessed community.
Known as
Z'man Matan Torateinu, the time of the giving of our Torah, Shavuot, the third of our
shalosh regalim/pilgrimage festivals, invites us to connect with the holy, the long lasting, the gift of Torah and revelation. Tradition teaches the heavens open at midnight on this sacred night for Gd to respond to prayer. This is in part why we remain awake learning Torah Erev Shavuot. I invite you to join me and Rabbi Jan Uhrbach of the Conservative Synagogue of the Hamptons this Thursday evening from 10-10:30pm, and witness our
hevruta/partnered learning in "Hanging by a Thread: Torah and the Comfort of the Unknowing." You should be able to access the
Rabbinical Assembly Tikkun Leil Shavuot livestream by clicking here.
Shavuot observance continues Friday morning with our holiday prayers in the Habonim sanctuary and on zoom. The first day of Shavuot was the time our ancestors brought the first fruits - the
bikkurim - to the Temple. Join us as we offer special blessings for our youngest shul members, community blossoms born since last Shavuot.
See a preview of our sweet babies and their families here.
On Shabbat morning, we'll mark the final day of Shavuot with prayers of Yizkor to remember our ancestors and loved ones who have moved to the next world.
May the days ahead, and the entire month of Sivan, be ones of potential, joy, blessing, revelation, and prayers heard and perhaps even answered.
Hodesh Tov,
Rg
