"Torah, Worship, and Loving Acts of Kindness"

Simon the Righteous, one of the last of the Great Assembly, who lived more than 2200 years ago, is remembered for his profound words, recorded in Pirke Avot: “The world stands on three things – Torah, worship, and loving acts of kindness.” We sing his words, we repeat them often at Temple; the challenge is to explore if we truly live them.
Torah, in this context, means the Torah, itself, but it also means Jewish learning of every sort. Being a Jew means dedicating oneself to Torah, to learning, to growing. At Temple Beth El, this means that we must grow beyond thinking that religious education is simply pre-school, religious school, Hebrew school and a Bar or Bat Mitzvah.

We must become a community of life-long learners. The study of Torah must continue throughout our entire lives. Torah means learning, knowledge, growing, becoming. And so, as Jews, we must always become. Become more knowledgeable about Jewish tradition by taking advantage of some of the courses on Torah, Judaism, and faith that are a part of our Temple program. Watch your upcoming Temple Voice for information on future opportunities for Jewish growth. Read Jewish books and periodicals. Browse the internet for Jewish websites that will enrich your Jewish knowledge.
 
Today, one of the most important areas in which we need to increase our torah, our knowledge, is in relationship to Israel. So many Jews today are confused by the conflicting information and misinformation we read in the various media sources related to Israel. As Jews we must seek to inform ourselves so that our support for Israel, particularly in these difficult times, is more than a knee-jerk support based merely on emotion. Israel needs our knowledgeable and committed support as much as our moral and financial support. Particularly good sources of information include websites like www.israel-mfa.gov.il; http://uahc.org/israel; www.jfgc.org; and www.memri.org
We also need to communicate our support for Israel to our governmental officials, and to support Israel with donations to the United Jewish Community’s Israel Emergency campaign, through our Jewish Federation. Also, we can support Israel’s economy by shopping online @ www.shipinisrael.com and other sites.

Worship is another important task of our Jewish lives. Worship means individual prayer and communal worship. Our spiritual lives are deepened and fulfilled when we take time out to reflect, pray, sing, dance and celebrate our lives. These summer months are a particularly good time to experiment with your relationship with prayer and worship. Try out our relaxed, informal early summer services. Every Friday night, beginning with refreshments at 5:45, and continuing with services at 6:00 p.m., we gather to welcome Shabbat and to end our week with spiritual uplift. These brief kabbalat Shabbat services end by 7:00 p.m., allowing you to share Shabbat dinner with family and friends at your leisure. Or try out our traditional 8:00 p.m. worship the first Friday of each month, our regular Shabbat morning Torah study and worship every Saturday.

Loving acts of Kindness are the third concept which supports our world; as Jews, we are incomplete if we are not actively engaged in deeds of tzedakah, charity, giving, sharing and caring. Our congregation provides so many opportunities for social action; there is no excuse for anyone to exclude such deeds from his or her life.
In particular, this month, I call your attention to the important and meaningful participation of our congregation in the Friendship Trays program. When Melissa Raphael first brought this program to our attention a couple of years ago, I was amazed at the simplicity of the concept. Volunteers from our congregation agree to commit an hour or two, one day a month, to deliver hot meals to needy recipients on our route. The task is simple, and the reward is great.

When Amy and I deliver our meals each month, we never cease to feel that we have made a difference. We need a few new volunteers, however, to complete our route. If you would like to volunteer, please let us know as soon as possible; only a few openings remain. To help convince you of the value of this project, please take the time to read elsewhere in this bulletin the experiences of some of those who have been doing this mitzvah over the past year or two. I hope you will be moved to respond.

May your summer be filled with Torah, Worship, and Loving Acts of Kindness, and a little rest and relaxation along the way!

James M. Bennett