As someone who reads Torah frequently I am always fascinated by the various different letter shapes and markings when they appear in the Torah as they stand out and are a change of pace. In the second verse of our Torah portion, the letter Yud in Pinchas’ name is smaller than the other letters. Our Chumash tells us, “When we commit violence even if justifiable, the Yud in us (standing for the name of G-d and for Y’hudi, “Jew”) is diminished thereby.” (Etz Chayim 918) In verse twelve of our Parsha the letter vav in the word Shalom has a stem that is broken, why is this? One explanation is that when peace is achieved by killing one’s enemy that peace will be blemished, it will not be a whole complete peace but instead will be one that is incomplete or inadequate.
In our lives we deal with many conflicts, we do our best to make the right choice and to be the best version of ourselves but sometimes our impulses take us over. When we act with force or especially violence to deal with a problem or situation we lose a bit of our humanity and ourselves. In the moment it seems there is no other option and like Pinchas we do what we deem necessary. Yet, in the aftermath we often find ourselves regretting our actions and wishing we did not let the Yud in us, the G-dliness in us be diminished.
Each day we have the opportunity to choose what kind of person we want to be and to show our friends, family and strangers that we can rise above our impulses and bring more peace into the world. May all of us be able to find that inner peace so that we can bring it into the world and spread it unto one another.
Shabbat Shalom, Cantor Diamond
If anyone is interested in reading Torah for the High Holidays, contact Cantor Diamond at cantor.diamond@cbohr.org.
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MINYAN REQUESTS Martin Kaufman requests an in-person minyan on Wednesday, July 7th at 7:45 PM. He has yahrzeit for his father, Charles Kaufman.
REFUAH SHELEIMAH (A SPEEDY RECOVERY) As a community, we pray for those in need of healing. May they be granted a Refuah Sheleimah - a complete and speedy recovery.
Bill Berkowitz Gary Klinger Jeff Hesekiel Rowena Meman Steve Nachbar Judy Safir Elane Tarnofsky Rona Weiss Donald Dunkel Ken Weissman Arnie Hauptman
CELEBRATIONS
We wish Carol Hirst and her family Mazal Tov for two wonderful celebrations:
The birth of her granddaughter, Lilliana Rose, born on Friday, June 25th. The proud parents are Laura and Jonathan Hirst.
The wedding of her son, Trevor to his new bride, Louisa on Sunday, June 27th.
Mazal Tov to Cantor Elliot and Andrea Yavneh on the birth of their grandson, Ephriam Ezra Yavneh. The proud parents are Miriam and Josh Yavneh.
Happy Anniversary to Jared and Joanne Belferder on Saturday, July 3rd.
A special birthday wish to Cynthia Jacobson on her upcoming birthday, Monday, July 5th.
Affiliated with United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism