Shabbat Blast

This Shabbat we begin a new book, Vayikra. When you begin reading the Hebrew words, there is something that jumps out at you right away. In the very first word, ויקרא, (Vayikra), the last letter, the Aleph, is much smaller than any other letter. The rabbis share all sorts of reasons for this and I will be mentioning this in my sermon Shabbat morning. For your reading pleasure, I will offer one interpretation right now. The Aleph is small to deflate Moses’ Ego. Moses has many reasons to have an inflated sense of self. Who would blame him? He has to most intimate access to the Divine and he assists God with redeeming the people of Israel. Who wouldn’t start to believe that they could do no wrong? Even Moses who is described as a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth, needs to be reminded of his origins. Even Moses needed checks and balances to this sense of power.

As we look toward to the new leadership that is emerging in the United States, I pray that we have the small Alephs, the check and balances, that can protect any leader from the power that comes with such a role. Congress and the Senate work in such capacities, but we, as voters, and people who can mobilize as a community, can also be that small aleph. This Sunday I will be attending the AIPAC Policy conference in which presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz, and Donald Trump, will be speaking. AIPAC is an incredibly strong lobby organization that works to support Israel. These candidates want to appeal to the Jewish vote. For such a small minority, we have a strong voice. Jonathan Israel will be joining me this year at the conference. I encourage all of you to consider joining me next year. We can use our voice to speak out on issues that matter, especially Israel.

Power must be balanced with humility and other voices and we must make sure that we are involved in that process.

Shabbat shalom,

Rabbi Bernstein

_____________________________________________________________

Birthday Mazal Tov  3/19/2016- 3/25/2016

Elliott Yavneh

Oren Kichel

Brad Levien

Ryan Zaslansky

Josh Yavneh

Anniversary Mazal Tov 3/19/2016- 3/25/2016

Heather & Robert Cetina

Renni &  Brian Siegel

Upcoming Events:

Lunch and Learn with Rabbi Bialer. Saturday March 19

Purim Carnival, Sunday March 20

Sci-Fi/Fantasy Purim, Wednesday March 23

April Fools Shabbat, Friday, April 1

Please join us as we listen to the candidates for Cantor.  Please click here for more info on when they will be joining us, as well as view a short biography of each.