This shabbat serves as a fulcrum in our Torah reading cycle. We finish the book of Exodus, and Eliza will chant its closing verses tomorrow moring as she becomes bat mitzvah! By the end of shabbat, we will already be assigned readings from the beginning of Leviticus. In that liminal space between books of Torah, we might find ourselves this shabbat, or this season, in-between.
This between-ness brings to mind a prayer from Rabbi Reuben Zellman aimed at capturing another, daily moment of being in-between: twilight:
“We are crisscrossed paths of memory and destination, streaks of light swirled together. We are neither day nor night. We are both, neither, and all. May the sacred in-between of this evening suspend our certainties, soften our judgments, and widen our vision.”
Rabbi Zellman reminds me that the space of in-between is itself a holy place and a hopefully place as well. This shabbat, as we are reminded of the in-between-ness of life, of this season, of Torah, of Jewishness, and of community, I want to invite us all to find time to honor – and perhaps mourn or grieve – what which seems to be ending and coming to a close. And also to welcome – perhaps with anxiety – what seems to be coming.
As we take time to reflect what we are between this shabbat, I invite you to do so as a member of Kadima. If you are reading this and not yet a member, consider joining now as part of our Spring Membership Drive.
As we close one book of Torah and begin another, there is a phrase said in Ashkenazi communities: chazak chazak v’nitchazeik – strength, strength, and we will be strengthened. While in Sephardi communities, there is a phrase after every reading of any part of torah: chazak u’varuch – strength and blessing.
May our individual strength be combined with the strength of others and together, may we be increased in strength, power, and uplift. And may our collective strength indeed be blessed and become a blessing in the world.
Shabbat shalom,
R’ David
This between-ness brings to mind a prayer from Rabbi Reuben Zellman aimed at capturing another, daily moment of being in-between: twilight:
“We are crisscrossed paths of memory and destination, streaks of light swirled together. We are neither day nor night. We are both, neither, and all. May the sacred in-between of this evening suspend our certainties, soften our judgments, and widen our vision.”
Rabbi Zellman reminds me that the space of in-between is itself a holy place and a hopefully place as well. This shabbat, as we are reminded of the in-between-ness of life, of this season, of Torah, of Jewishness, and of community, I want to invite us all to find time to honor – and perhaps mourn or grieve – what which seems to be ending and coming to a close. And also to welcome – perhaps with anxiety – what seems to be coming.
As we take time to reflect what we are between this shabbat, I invite you to do so as a member of Kadima. If you are reading this and not yet a member, consider joining now as part of our Spring Membership Drive.
As we close one book of Torah and begin another, there is a phrase said in Ashkenazi communities: chazak chazak v’nitchazeik – strength, strength, and we will be strengthened. While in Sephardi communities, there is a phrase after every reading of any part of torah: chazak u’varuch – strength and blessing.
May our individual strength be combined with the strength of others and together, may we be increased in strength, power, and uplift. And may our collective strength indeed be blessed and become a blessing in the world.
Shabbat shalom,
R’ David
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