I live my life guided by a theme of my maternal grandfather.  The theme he imprinted on my psyche is “10 minutes early, is almost late”.  Now this flies directly in the face of the concept of “JST” or more commonly, “Jewish Standard Time”, where 20 minutes late is on time.  The thought of being late, the idea that I might miss a deadline makes my teeth itch.  I just can not function that way.  Why do i share this?  Because I’m writing this article for the August 1st Migdalor the week of July 10th.  Or in other words Day 645 of Israel at war.

Israel is very close to my heart.  I’ll explain my connection in detail in person and in future articles.  Let me just say, I became engaged to Judy in Israel, on her kibbutz.  I am married to an Israeli citizen and all my stepchildren were born on Kibbutz Maagan Michael.  As we head into August and we recall on Tisha B’Av the destruction of the 1st and 2nd Temples in Jerusalem and the subsequent exiles, I am grateful to live in a time where there is a modern Jewish nation of Israel with united Jerusalem as it’s capital.

I will share much more about Israel in coming months.  For now, I have to share I’m very excited to have my first Shabbat weekends behind me.  For me it has been much fun to meet our community and start to hear everyone’s stories.  Just as I suspect people want to know about Rabbi Ron, I also want to sit with everyone after services, enjoy some sweets and hear your stories also.  In sharing our histories, we have the chance to get to know each other other and enhance the relationship and community. I would be very remiss if I did not thank everyone for the very warm and joyful welcome you have offered to Judy and myself.

This is the point of the summer where suddenly “Back to School” advertisements appear.  A signal that while we are at the height of summer, the fall and the High Holidays are coming into real view.  We will be observing Tisha B’Av on August 3rd.  Watch for updates with information for the time and the link for the service.  As we move into August the heavy duty planning of all the High Holidays comes into play.  I am very much looking forward to observing and celebrating the holidays with you all.

Looking into the year to come, allow me to share a few goals and themes I have.  First of all, I value both teaching and learning.  I enjoy teaching about Torah, about text and our faith and its customs.  And I enjoy learning from everyone also.  It is a firm belief of mine that the words of Pirkai Avot are very true, as our sages teach us, “who is wise?  the one who learns from everyone”.  To that end, each month I’ll be sharing a bit of Torah or text or something from the prayer book.  For this month, the words of the 146th Psalm inspire me.  On page 97 of the siddur we read, “יהוה שומר את גרים, יתום ואלמנה”-“G!d protects the stranger (the resident alien among you), the orphan and the widow”.  These were the 3 most vulnerable classes in ancient times.  Those words speak to me today.  Just as G!d is concerned and protects the vulnerable in society, do we all also not have a positive injunction to do the same?  I believe we do.  Together in the year to come, let’s explore together ways we can live these words of scripture and make the world just a little better, just little brighter, because we took part in it.

Todah!  תודה רבה

Rabbi Ron