December 8, 2022

Shalom Chaverim (Dear friends),

I am writing this week’s message to you from my mom’s apartment in Forest Hills, Queens. I came in to assist her after she underwent her second cataract surgery. My brother Stefan, who was here to help her after the first one, our mother, and I are all so thankful everything went well with both procedures. Hopefully she will be seeing and reading much better. This experience makes me think about how fortunate we are to be living in a time where many matters of aging can be addressed, improving our quality of life.

Improving the quality of people’s lives in our community is central to the work we do each day at your Adolph and Rose Levis JCC. One wonderful example of this is the way our Levis JCC Resale Boutique continues to partner with the Ruth & Norman Rales Jewish Family Services to serve some of our community’s newest residents. Just last week, two more Ukrainian families who are starting over here in our area visited the Boutique along with their Ruth & Norman Rales Jewish Family Services (JFS) case worker, Alex. They were able to choose clothing and basic household items, the essentials to set up their new homes – all without worrying about cost. We are so proud of our continued partnership with Rales JFS, doing this important work.

This week’s Torah portion is Vayishlach (He Sent) in Genesis, the first book of the Five Books of Moses. In it, Jacob, whose name means “sneak heal,” wrestles with an Angel sent from G-d and who resembles Jacob’s brother Esau. Jacob defeats the Angel and asks for his blessing. Until this point, Jacob has always been chasing the things that belonged to his brother. The Angel therefore says “not with the name ‘Sneak Heal’ will I bless you, but with the name Israel, which means ‘to wrestle with G-d.’ For you have wrestled with G-d and won.

The learning for me is that we can all grow, evolve and change, as our forefather Jacob taught us. As we are given the gift of helping our parents as they age, or the honor of doing acts of loving kindness, such as those that take place every day at the Levis JCC, each of us can continue to grow and evolve into the individuals and community that we aspire to become.

Light candles Friday night at 5:14 pm
Shabbat ends Saturday night at 6:08 pm

Shabbat Shalom,

Marty