October 13, 2022

Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),

As the Jewish High Holiday season continues to unfold, my wife and I are appreciative of the very meaningful Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services we’ve attended, as well as dinners with new friends and family here in our new South Palm Beach community.

As I write this message, we are in the midst of the holiday of Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Booths. Many people choose to celebrate this holiday in their own way, and in my case, Sukkot has always meant getting outside and connecting with nature. This has often resulted in getting my hands into the Earth and doing some landscaping. This year, my landscaping tradition continued, bringing with it similar, wonderful memories of working in my past yards in Scottsdale and Sarasota.

In addition, during Sukkot we are reminded of the “huts” that our people dwelled in for 40 years in the desert as they left slavery in Egypt on their way to our eternal home in Israel. I reflect on the pride that we as Jews have always taken in our dwellings, which strikes me as one of the signature aspects of being Jewish. Being known as “the people of the book”, as well as for taking care of our own through the concept of tzedakah (justice or righteousness), celebrating our “huts” is another statement of who we are as a people.

This week’s Torah portion is from Numbers 29:17-34, the 4th book in the 5 books of Moses. This portion describes the communal offerings. As we celebrate in our Sukkahs, we also delight in the rededication of our Adolph & Rose Levis JCC located at 21050 95th Avenue S. Please come see what our Levis JCC is offering to our community, I am confident that you will be very pleased.

Light Shabbat candles Friday evening at 6:35 p.m.
Shabbat ends Saturday night at 7:27 p.m.

Shabbat Shalom & Chag Sameach!

Marty