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January 3, 2025 - 3 Tevet 5785 Parashat Vayigash - Of Revolutions & Resolutions
Dear Friends, We are excited to announce to new programs and I would love to have you participate in both. First is Havdalah at Home, a series of Havdalah services we will conduct in members’ homes to do outreach to the local Jewish community to find new synagogue members and supporters. We really need your help with this effort and I would like to ask you to bring one or two new people to these events to help make them successful. Please contact Craig or I if you have any questions. Otherwise, I hope you will RSVP and help with this important initiative. Second, I will be teaching a new online course called Biblical Smackdowns. This six-week program will explore stories of violent confrontation between our favorite Biblical characters, so to hear about the drama and find out who wins the battles, please plan to join me on Zoom on Monday evenings at 7:30PM, starting January 13th. * * * * * * * I made a change in my New Year's greetings a few years ago, at least when within my Jewish circles. Invariably, as I would wish someone "Happy New Year!" they would unironically inform me that, "Rabbi, it's not “our” New Year." As though I didn't know or had forgotten about Rosh HaShanah! So, I started wishing people happy whatever year it is on the Gregorian calendar (i.e. "Happy 2025!" rather than "Happy New Year!") One of the many things I like about being an American Jew, observing both the Jewish and Gregorian calendars, is that the combination of the two allows for multiple "New Years." As Jews, we celebrate Rosh HaShanah at the start of the school and fall calendars we are all so accustomed to and centered around, so that it feels fitting and natural to be speaking about and focusing on fresh starts. And, then we get the Gregorian New Year, halfway between the fall and the summer as an opportunity to renew ourselves, and re-commit to personal goals and priorities; a chance to give ourselves a shot in the arm during the sometimes-dreary winter months. And, perhaps before we know it, the spring will return and with it, Pesach (Passover) as a New Year in and of itself, gathering with loved ones to celebrate freedom, rebirth and renewal. Essentially, as American Jews, we get a "New Year's celebration" at least three times a year. And for me, each is an opportunity and a blessing - to look back and take stock of where we have been, figuratively and literally, since the most recent observance, as well as since the year before. We look back in order to learn, and learn in order to move forward, always a work-in-progress, always hoping and trying to be better people than the last go-round. As the earth once again completes its 365.25-day journey around the sun, we strive to be and feel renewed. With each revolution of the Earth we inhabit, it seems we add more and more resolutions to our lives. And these are good for us, as long as they are realistic and achievable. To expect perfection from ourselves is both unfair and, ultimately, counterproductive. But, to challenge ourselves, to improve and better our lives, bit by bit, this is among the ultimate goals of life. This is, I firmly believe, what God wants from us - on New Year's Day, and every day in between. Over this week and next, we will conclude our annual reading of B'reshit (the book of Genesis) and move into Sh'mot (the book of Exodus). I pray that each of us and all of us may move forward from the Genesis of our New Year's celebration into an exodus, a movement within each of us towards greater kindness, patience, goodness, and holiness in this new year of 2025. May we work towards being the best versions of ourselves we have yet to be, for the sake of all of our loved ones and the world around us. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Joshua Strom
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