July 9, 2020 / 17 Tamuz, 5780
Erev Shabbat candle lighting: 8:58 pm
Havdalah: 10:05 pm
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Rabbi Hannah's Weekly Reflection
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Parshat Pinchas – Leading with Love
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As Moshe climbs to the top of Mt. Abarim to view the land he will not be allowed to enter, he turns toward God in concern for the community that will continue without him, praying: “Let the Holy One, God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a leader for this community, one who will go out before them… so that they will not be like a flock with no shepherd.”
The Torah calls God by many names, revealing the many ways in which God was experienced, suggesting different facets or faces of divinity that might be turned in the human direction to answer to the needs of a given moment. Still, the epithet “God of the spirits of all flesh” is unusual and sparks the imaginations of our great commentators. As he thinks toward a continuity of leadership, why does Moshe call upon this particular face of God – the God who attends to the animating principle of
flesh
?
Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev teaches that Moshe
is praying for a leader who will be sensitive to the human - fleshly - condition. To paraphrase, Moshe says: “Just as You, God, always champion human beings, even though we are not consistently loyal to you,
so
, appoint a leader who will, likewise, always defend the People, leading with benevolence.” Surely, we become absorbed in our personal needs and desires, forgetting our service, the mission to better our world. But our fleshly preoccupations are part of what it
is
to be human, rather than angelic. Moses says that God knows this. But he worries that not all human leaders are so tolerant. And he entreats God to appoint an unconditionally loving leader to replace him, someone who understands the People’s failings, meeting them just where they are.
Moshe prays to hand his mantle on to a leader who will “go out before” the community, speaking on their behalf, advancing the holiness of their very human frailty, so that they will not be “as sheep without a shepherd.” The plea is to ensure a sense of safety for this imperfect People. The plea is for continued permission to be whole, and real, sometimes reverent and sometimes not, but all of our human impulses held as equally rooted in holiness, all of our own faces and facets respected by our God and, by God’s example, lovingly embraced by our human leaders.
If this is a standard God teaches human leaders, we can widen the circle of inspiration by increasing our practice of unconditional love, stepping into leadership of the new waves of revolutionary love and empathy-as-activism that we see growing in our troubled world right now. Can we grow our love for messily imperfect people, acknowledging, as Moshe acknowledges, that we all vacillate between remembering that we were created to emancipate the holy sparks hidden in plain sight, and behaving selfishly - forgetting, but then, remembering again - as humans are wont to do.
The lesson of Pinchas is one more Torah teaching in building a society of flourishing humans: If we lead with love, folks will not feel afraid. And feeling safe, seen, and appreciated, perhaps we’ll all be more kind. A giant step toward perfecting our world.
Shabbat Shalom!
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Friday July 10 to Thursday July 16
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Prayers for Healing,
Tehillim
for the Human Family
- led by John Fuerst
Friday, July 10,
1:00 pm
Reciting
Tehillim
for the sick is a traditional practice.
Join John to chant or sing Psalms, or to sit quietly, sending healing intentions. Psalms are available in Hebrew and English
here
.
Join via
Zoom
.
Meeting ID: 873 2214 6883; Password: 200901
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Virtual North Shore Shabbat
Frida
y, July 10,
5.30 - 6:45 pm
Join Or Shalom, Har El, and Connect Me In for a collaborative gathering.
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Erev Shabbat Candle Lighting
- led by Rabbi Hannah
Friday, July 10,
6.00 pm
Candle lighting, Kiddush, and Motzi led by Rabbi Hannah.
Join via
Zoom
. Meeting ID: 826 4524 7744. Password: 712461
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Our communal Shabbat Service this week will be a Mincha.
- Led by Rabbi Hannah Dresner and Harriet Frost
At this time we will celebrate the Mincha Simchat Mitzvah of Justin Greenberg
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Saturday July 11, 5:00 - 6:00 pm
Meeting ID: 832 4134 2113;
Password: 980226
Parashat Pinchas
/ פרשת פינחס
Pesukei D'Zimra
-
Harriet Frost and Justin Greenberg
Shacharit
-
Rabbi Hannah and Justin Greenberg
Dvar Torah
- Justin Greenberg
We will be using the Et Ratzon Siddur for the service. There won't be any screen sharing during the service. Siddurim are still available to be lent out.
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Mazel Tov to Justin Greenberg who is celebrating his Simchat Mitzvah!
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Borrowing Prayerbooks (
Siddurim
)
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If you would like to sign out a
Siddur
from Or Shalom for virtual services, email the office at
office@orshalom.ca
to arrange a pick up time or a delivery time (please allow around 5 days for volunteer deliveries).
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Virtual Evening Minyan
- led by Rabbi Hannah
Sunday, July 12,
7:00 pm
For a transliterated and translated weekday evening liturgy, please click
here
(pg 69 to 125).
Join via
Zoom
. Meeting ID: 869 8675 6931. Password: 291406
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Women's Heart Centered Torah Study
- led by Dael Adams
Thursday, July 16, 12:30 - 2:30 pm
Parashat Matot-Masei
/ פרשת מטות־מסעי
Torah Portion:
B'Midbar
/
Numbers 30:2 - 36:13
This concludes Torah Study for July (first and third Thursdays of the month)
Our next scheduled study will be August 6th
Parashat Eikev
/ פרשת עקב
Devarim
/Deuteronomy 7:12 - 11:25
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Friday, July 24, 5:30 pm
Join us for a family friendly Erev Shabbat on Friday, July 24. We are blessed to be able to gather outdoors in one of our beautiful parks for our first in-person, socially distanced gathering. Our picnic is an opportunity to see and engage with one another from a safe distance, while respecting one others' personal and group bubbles.
Registration is required and we can only accommodate up to 49 people. Covid protocols are shared on the registration page. Please register
here (password: Shalom). As space is limited, we kindly ask individuals not to share information about the event on social media, we don't want to have to turn anyone away. Feel free to contact Tanya with any questions
programs@orshalom.ca.
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This year the names of Or Shalom family members lost in the Shoah will be woven into our recitation of lamentations.
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A Request from Child Survivors, the Second and Third Generation of Holocaust Survivors
:
In preparation for this year’s Tisha B’Av service we are asking the Child Survivors, the Second and Third Generation Shoah Survivors in our Or Shalom community to send us the names and the relationships of the family members you have lost. Those names will be woven into the recitation of the Lamentations.
In so doing, we acknowledge the destructive force that was the Shoah in the most personal terms. Naming these Holy sparks gives them voice and honours their lives.
Please submit those names by completing this
form as soon as possible and
no later than July 20, 2020.
With gratitude from The Tisha B’Av Group,
Rabbi Hannah Dresner, Mary Adlersberg, Marianne Rev, Deborah Ross-Grayman, Henry Ross-Grayman.
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Annual Campaign Generosity
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We are wrapping up the Annual Campaign in July. If your family would like to join the 115 others and donate, please do so online at
www.orshalom.ca/campaign/
. If you would like to have a conversation about your Or Shalom experience with one of the campaign canvassers, please contact Roslyn Kunin, Campaign Chair by email at
rkunin@telus.net
or by phone at 604-736-0783.
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Vancouver Green & Just Recovery Town Hall
Please a conversation about a Green & Just Recovery from COVID-19 on Friday, July 17th at 3:30pm PT.
Our kids deserve a GREEN & JUST RECOVERY! You have to register for this town-hall, but it is free. This will be uplifting.
The participants are our local Sustainabiliteens; Christine Boyle, City Councillor; Minister George Heyman, MLA; and the Honourable Jenny Kwan, MP.
The Tikkun Olam Committee hopes that you will attend with your ‘kids.
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- A donation was made by Miriam Caplan to the Rabbi's Benevolent Fund in gratitude to Sheryl and Hillel.
- A donation was made by Karen and Motti to the Building Fund: Hillel and Sheryl in honour of your exciting changes in your lives.
- A donation was made by Deborah and Henry Ross-Grayman to the Rabbi's Benevolent Fund in Honour of Sheryl and Hillel Sorokin and their many generous contributions to ORSH.
- A donation was made by Mira Oreck to the Rabbi's Special Program Fund.
- Thank you to Rabbi Susan Shamash for leading the July 4 Shabbat Morning Torah Study.
- Thank you to Linda Peritz for serving as tech Shamash during the July 4 Shabbat Morning Torah Study.
- Thank you to the Tisha B'Av working group for their preparation for the upcoming Tisha B’Av service.
- Thank you to the Gemilut Chesed Working Group and to our Covid-19 volunteers for their ongoing support.
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Your tax-deductible
donation to Or Shalom
can be used to honour an accomplishment or life event, say thank you for a mitzvah or job well-done, or remember a loved ones passing.
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The membership committee's
Getting to Know You
interview series is an opportunity for Or Shalomniks to get to know one another and learn about the fascinating stories and knowledge our community has to offer.
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If you wish to help support folks in need, please complete the volunteer
form
at this link. Your community will be very grateful.
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JFS Emergency Care Hotline
9:00 am – 9:00 pm,
7 days a week.
JFS is here to help! If you or a loved one need support you can contact us in any of the following ways:
604-558-5719
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Hebrew Free Loan Association of Vancouver
Coronavirus Emergency Loan
Helps support individuals with financial challenges caused by the Coronavirus.
Maximum Loan Amount Available: $2,000
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Have something to post in the Doar?
Just fill in this
handy web-form
to included
your article
in future editions of the Doar Shalom, Or Shalom's weekly e-newsletter.
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