Dear Friends,
This Shabbat we will say a special prayer for the upcoming new Jewish month of Shevat! Rosh Chodesh Shevat will be on Sunday night and Monday of this coming week. May it be a month of blessing, of healing, of health, and of joy.
We are also welcoming the start of 2022. This new beginning also calls for a special blessing. And, in very Jewish fashion, I searched for that blessing in this week’s Torah portion… Here is what I found:
In the midst of the plagues that were visited on Egypt, God sends Moses to “rise up early in the morning and stand firm before Pharaoh” and to speak in the name of the Lord, saying: “Let my people go to worship Me.” (Exodus 9:13).
We may, understandably, feel challenged and uncertain about the coming year. Ye, when we read the weekly Torah portion, we hear the voice of God speaking to Moses, and to us as well, saying “stand firm” for our Jewish values and “speak” them, so that we may begin to rise up out of the current difficult situation.
May we take heart, stand firm, and articulate our Jewish values so that we may see a path forward toward new beginnings and toward new blessings!
Undoubtedly, if we study the weekly Torah portion some more, we will find more blessings in it. So, please let me know what blessing/s you may find!
Shabbat Shalom and a happy and healthy 2022 to you and yours!
Rabbi Gilah Dror
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