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March 15, 2025 - 15 Adar 5785 Parashat Ki Tisa - That's Life
Dear Friends, We had a lovely Purim celebration last night and I hope you are enjoying the Chag (holiday) today. Please see below for some photos from our festive Megillah reading. Hunger has no season, so we are joining again with Jewish Federation of Northern NJ to participate in their March Mega Food Drive. When you go shopping, please add an extra, non-perishable food item or two to your shopping cart and bring them to the synagogue. We have blue bags set up in the social hall where you should place the items. We are doing great with our collection efforts so far, but we let's see how much better we can do! We would like to thank Lili Chalom-Weitzen for sponsoring this Shabbat’s Kiddush luncheon to mark the first Yahrzeit of her brother, Elie Chalom (Eliyahu Ben Aharona V’ Mayer Chalom HaLevi, Z”L). As Lili related to me, Elie was funny, kind, intelligent, and wanted everyone to be happy. He cherished his seven siblings and his nephews, nieces, and their children, who all miss him profoundly. Honoring one’s sibling is an important Mitzvah, so please join us at the Kiddush table to share in Lili’s Mitzvah and consider sponsoring a Kiddush to honor or celebrate a person or event that is meaningful to you.
Sometimes I believe that the radio speaks to me. Okay, not literally. If that were true, you may understandably have some legitimate concerns about your rabbi. But I do feel that the songs I happen to catch while in my car are little messages to me coming from somewhere, perhaps from above. Though I don't consider myself a fan of Frank Sinatra's music, I do respect him and his place in American musical and cultural history. I've been thinking about him, because a few different times in the last week, my radio scrolling has treated me to Old Blue Eyes' song "That's Life," and at least one cover of it as well. I have a certain love and appreciation for songs whose sound seems to be in contradistinction to its message; songs, for example, that sound uplifting and positive but in actuality really aren't. Even though the lyrics point to getting back up again no matter how many times one is knocked down, "That's Life" still seems to fall in that category for me. Hearing the song multiple times in the lead-up to Purim felt perfectly appropriate to me. Among the many lessons we can and should learn from Megillat Esther is how quickly things can change, how instantly our fortunes can be flipped on their proverbial heads. How the positions, platforms, and even whims of those in power can send the comfortable into panic and distress, or help the persecuted and marginalized feel suddenly more secure. How a natural disaster or medical emergency can throw order into utter chaos. All too well our people have come to know this truth throughout our long history, likely starting with the new Pharaoh in Egypt, who "did not know Joseph," right through to the present day. "Riding high in April, shot down in May" indeed. And everything in between. This certainly doesn't mean we should surrender or resign ourselves to whatever the fates may have in store for us. After all, as Sinatra tells us, "I don't let it get me down, cause this fine old world, it keeps spinning around." This is perfectly compatible with the famous story of King David challenging his court advisor Nathan to inscribe a ring with words that "will make the sad man happy, and the happy man sad." When Nathan eventually gifts him the ring and the inscription ds, Gam zeh ya'avor (גם זה יעבור) (This too shall pass), it reminds us that when things are good, enjoy them, cherish them, because they will not always be this way. But so too, when things are going terribly, they will also not last forever. Knowing this and living with such an awareness can infuse our days with intentionality and purpose and help us to appreciate the complexity, richness, and beauty of our world, as well as the lives with which we have been blessed. And to do our best to never, ever, take any of it for granted. Chag Purim Sameach and Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Joshua Strom
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