Rabbi’s Perspective

Since Rosh Hashanah I have been thinking about what we do after working thru our forgiveness from God and our fellow human beings. The only thing that comes to mind is that we continue living with a renewed determination to say what is good, do our best, be productive in our lives, and resolve to draw the positive from even the most challenging situations in our personal lives and the life of our communities, and our country.

The November Presidential Election will have passed and the results will have a key impact in our lives for at least the next four years. Are you happy with the results subsequent to your having exercised your constitutional right to vote? What is the state of your personal life situation? Is there something you need to do about it for your sake, or for that of others? I would say to myself as well as to all others, “if your life condition is high then your specific life situation cannot defeat you, nor will you be complacent even if you deem your life situation as just doing fine. 

There is something I want to tell you about the election. It no longer matters whom you voted for nor who has actually won the election. You have exercised your voting rights of citizenship. What must now concern you, is fervently praying for our president-elect to be blessed with presidential balance and spiritual wisdom. Pray that he has the wisdom and discernment to surround himself with and listen to the best possible brain trust of practical, moral ethical, spiritual advisors; men and women of great courage and political valor. We must have a long view of things both historically and futuristically. The blessings of this country and its treasures, meaning people, represent this country’s hope for its future. With God’s help and inspiration our new President will January 20, 2009 swear in, as he places his hand on the Bible, a new era of growth, health, and greatness for the American people.

I have been searching the inner net of my being and find it difficult to believe that the Jewish calendar has no lingering effects on our congregation. We just came thru the holiest of seasons, praying our hearts out during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Forgiveness I assume we received from friends and God respectively. But repentance does not end. It is supposed to be a state of heart and mind, with commensurate action that permeates the dimensions of our being. We can all start with something we tend to forget. Please remember that the Sabbath does not end after Friday Night Services and Oneg Hospitality Hour. It is supposed to continue with Saturday morning Shabbat Services, Torah Reading and Torah Study. A sumptuous Kiddush Lunch follows in which we feed spirit and nourish the body with conversation, food and fraternity. All of you are welcome and needed. We need a Minyan to enable Mourners to recite the Kaddish, so that we and they may honor their remembered dead loved-ones. The public reading of the Torah requires a duly constituted congregation with the proper quorum of congregants in attendance. I need you and you need Saturday Shabbos services to feel that important commitment and connection to your people. You must be there to honor the Sabbath and Your congregation. You won’t believe how different you’ll feel being part of the Shabbos morning Spirit. Please look at the Calendar and commit yourselves, for a start , to at least one Shabbos morning a month even if you have no Bar-Bat Mitzvah to celebrate or attend. The Sabbath is supposed to be a high priority time to celebrate our spirits, our gifts as a People,, and the fact that we are living symbols of God’s eternal, beautiful, recurring, creative process. Involvement in this as well as other sacred and celebratory events is key to B’nai Chaim as synagogue and center of community.  If you act with true understanding of the significance of participation you will understand why   Chanukah and Purim represent dual celebrations of our survival as a People. Even with no threats from the outside to our physical survival, apathy of the spirit can, diminish our existence as a light in the world, as well as an inspiration to our brethren and the world.  

With Many Blessings & Hopes for All,

Rabbi Barry Ulrych