June 2, 2022

Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),

It’s hard to believe that this is the first Shabbat message of June, my first June in Florida in 7 years (I spent 13 years in Sarasota before moving to Arizona). After 7 years of extremely dry conditions, I have become quite grateful for the daily deluges we can almost count on here this time of year. Like the differences in the weather, I also find myself conflicted with differences in which team to support as the National Hockey League’s season moves toward its 2022 Stanley Cup Championship. I spent the first 33 years of my life in the NY tristate area. Do I root for the NY Rangers, or do I stick with the Tampa Bay Lightning, the team I rooted for while I lived in Sarasota. Yet what a great time to be a Florida Panther’s fan after such a great regular season! How can I root for Tampa after they just ousted our Panthers seemingly with ease? Decisions, decisions….

At the end of this week, we will be celebrating the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, which commemorates the revelation of the Torah on Mt. Sinai to the Jewish people. It occurs on the 50th day after counting the “omer” starting with the second Passover Seder. For some, Shavuot is one of the holiest days of the year. It is one of the three biblically-based pilgrimage holidays and is associated with the grain harvest in the Torah. But because it is held in the summer months, it often falls off the radar and is quite unknown to many. How can we better engage our Jewish community in this important pillar of Jewish tradition?

This week’s Torah portion is Bamidbar (In the Desert), in the Book of Numbers, the 4th of the 5 Books of Moses. In it, Moses Counts 603,550 draft-able men between the ages of 20 and 60. On my way toward my 59th year in January, I realize I am coming toward the end of my draft-able years even by the biblical standard. Yet just this morning I read of a 59 year old Ukrainian father and grandfather who is fighting – voluntarily -- with his 2 adult sons who are both fathers themselves, to defend their land from the Russian assault. Considering the Shavuot holiday, I find the significant discussion about how to get grain food stuffs out of Ukraine and to the food markets around the world ironic.

Whether rooting for our favorite sports teams, celebrating our holidays and traditions or seeing what is going on in Ukraine, for better or worse, humans often identify by our tribal roots. Once again, I’m conflicted as I feel strongly about my own roots and traditions. It is not always simple to figure out who to root for and how. In the end, it seems to me that the most important thing is to follow our moral compass and in order to follow it, to make sure we have one -- one we understand and feel strongly about and to pass that down to our children and grandchildren.

Light candles Friday evening at 7:52 pm
Shabbat ends Saturday night at 8:50 pm
Shavuot ends Monday, at 8:51 pm

Wishing each of you and your loved ones Chag Shavuot Sameach.

Shabbat Shalom,

Marty