People who know me well know I’m partial to symmetry. I like when things are in order and when they’re balanced. Some call this a bit annoying. I refer to it as something extra special. Many people who see the world as I do like to have a “B” to each “A.” They like to have everything in pairs just like I do. Our holidays come in pairs: Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret, Hanukkah and Purim, Passover and Shavuot. Each pair of holidays tells a deeper story and greater narrative than any of the holidays by themselves. We celebrate the New Year and then begin to look back and ahead at how we can change to be better. We celebrate the cycle of nature with Sukkot and then the cycle of the Torah with Shemini Atzeret. On Hanukah we commemorate our near destruction at the hands of ourselves and an external enemy and on Purim we focus on the human story of overcoming an eternal external foe. Passover and Shavuot tell the story of our complete history and identity. On Passover we celebrate our redemption and our freedom and on Shavuot we celebrate our covenant and our relationship with the Divine.
We left Egypt to come to Mt. Sinai and stand in relationship with God through our acceptance of the Torah. This incredible relationship between Passover and Shavuot is discovered in this week’s פרשה/Parsha: אמור/Emor when it describes the obligation to count seven sets of seven days from the second night of Passover until we reach the 49th day. The next day, the “50th” is the designated day of the holiday of Shavuot and thus the celebration of the giving of the Torah. Each year as we count, as we are commanded to do this week in אמור, we recall the connectedness of these two celebrations.
The connection is important and shouldn’t be lost on any of us. At Passover Seders, we read and sing the words of “Dayenu”. Those words state “Had God brought us out of Egypt and had not brought judgement upon (the Egyptians) it would have been enough”. As the reading continues, it says “Had God given us Shabbat and not brought us to Mt. Sinai it would have been enough. Had God brought us to Mt. Sinai and had not given us the Torah it would have been enough. Had God given us the Torah and not brought us to the Land of Israel it would have been enough…” The list goes on and on, and in reality, we need to be grateful enough to recognize the true power of “Dayenu” and that we have to be satisfied with what we have. At the same time, we don’t live in a world where God took us out of Egypt and didn’t bring us to Sinai, didn’t give us the Torah, and didn’t bring us to Israel. We live in a world where we received all those things, which are all necessary and all connected. We can’t say something would’ve been “enough” because we don’t know what our world would’ve looked like if we hadn’t received them.
As we navigate the Omer period to the celebration of the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai, we must see that our freedom, received when we left Egypt, was a freedom to be in a relationship with God and with our people through the Torah. The freedom isn’t absolute. It’s about our ability to share in the sacred and great relationship with God. As I’m writing these words, it’s the 23rd day of the Omer and we’ll count the next one tonight. This means we’re left with 26 more days to prepare ourselves to grow in our relationship with Torah and with God.
Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Hearshen
Candlelighting time on May 17 is 8:15 pm.
BIRTHDAYS
Sunday Ally Habif Levi Durham Ronald Galanti
Monday Blanchette Ichay Jake Sobel
Tuesday Edward Silver Eric Gabbai Jonathan Arogeti Leah Koch
Wednesday Corrine Rousso
Thursday Jeffrey Cohen Robyn Ross
Friday Lisa Galanti Rabinowitz
ANNIVERSARIES Sunday David and Ruth Falkenstein
Monday Steven and Delilah Cohen
Tuesday Josh and Brittany Kalson
Thursday David and Sharon Apseloff Jonathan R. and Sarah Benator
Friday Elad and Laura Levy
Meldados
Shabbat Eugene Abraham Weinberg Felix Solomon Schinazi
FunRaising Trivia Night Motzei Shabbat, Nov 23rd 7:00p to 9:00p Hosted by Michelle Rich, Debbie Cohen Sobel & Leah Kaplan. Featuring NYC Trivia Host Gabe Rich. An Italian vegetarian dinner will be served. All proceeds to benefit Congregation Or VeShalom.
Community Service Projects Thanksgiving 2024 Sunday, Nov 24th 9:00a to 1:00p OVS is partnering with JF&CS to prepare Thanksgiving meals for people living in group housing and care packages for care givers.
Learn to Chant the Torah Wednesday, Dec 4th 7:00p to 9:00p Learn to chant the Torah with Rabbi Gutierrez. This series begins on Tuesday, November 12 through January. There will be no classes Thanksgiving week or during winter break. RSVP requested. Class is offered free of charge.
Town Brookhaven Holiday Kickoff Thursday, Dec 5th 6:00p to 8:30p Join Rabbi Hearshen, friends & family from OVS and the greater community of Brookhaven for this special event. There will be a Giant Hanukkiah, Dance & Musical Performances, Merchant Specials, Character Meet & Greet, and More. No RSVP necessary. Be sure to stop by the OVS table for some goodies!
Cash Raffle 2024 Sunday, Dec 8th 11:00a to 4:00p Enter to win our 50/50 cash raffle. Winner will be drawn at the end of the Sisterhood Bazaar on Sunday, December 8. You do not have to be present to win.
Hanukkah Bazaar and Food Festival Sunday, Dec 8th 11:00a to 4:00p The OVS Sisterhood Hanukkah Bazaar & Food Festival will feature food, shopping and lots of games and activities for children.
Comedy Night FunRaiser Motzei Shabbat, Dec 14th 7:30p to 10:30p Join us for a fun night of comedy featuring our very own Louis Galanti & Lily Maslia providing opening comedy sets for Atlanta legend Jerry Farber. All proceeds to benefit OVS.
Annual General Membership Meeting Sunday, Dec 15th 10:00a to 11:30a The meeting this year is being offered in person and on Zoom. We need a quorum to vote at the Meeting. Please make every effort to attend.
