Rolling Back to Bereshit: A Season for Renewal

As October begins, the echoes of the shofar are still with us. We have just come through the Days of Awe, the season of looking inward, asking forgiveness, and promising ourselves we will do better. Now, as we celebrate Simchat Torah and roll the scroll back to Bereshit, “In the beginning,” we are handed a gift: the chance to start again.

There is something wonderful about the Torah’s cycle. We never finish it and put it on a shelf. The moment we read the last words of Deuteronomy; we turn right back to the first words of Genesis. Our tradition teaches that renewal isn’t a single moment. It’s a practice. The commitments we made on Yom Kippur only matter if we carry them into ordinary Tuesdays in October.

So, I’d like to invite each of us to make one new commitment this year, and to make it about giving back.

Giving back can take many forms. For some, it is tzedakah, supporting our temple and the causes that reflect our values. For others, it is time: helping with an Oneg, greeting people at services, visiting a member who is homebound, or lending a skill to one of our committees. And sometimes giving back is as simple as showing up, because a minyan, a class, or a holiday celebration is richer for every face in the room.

I especially want to encourage us to bring our friends and families along. Our children learn what community means by watching us serve it. Our friends, whatever their background, are always welcome to join us at a Shabbat service, a volunteer project, or a festive meal. When we invite others in, we strengthen the circle that holds all of us.

Here are a few ways to get involved this fall:

• Upcoming volunteer opportunity – Mitzvot day (more info to follow)

• Committee or event that needs helping hands

• Community partnership, or a food drive

Rabbi Tarfon reminds us in Pirkei Avot that “It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you free to desist from it” (Pirkei Avot 2:16). None of us has to do everything. Each of us can do something.  

Thank you for all you already give to Temple Beth Israel: your time, your generosity, your warmth, and your presence. I look forward to seeing you, and those you love, in the weeks ahead.

With gratitude and warm wishes for a sweet and meaningful year,

Cheryl Kabeli

President, Temple Beth Israel

Reference

Pirkei Avot 2:16. (n.d.). Sefaria. https://www.sefaria.org/Pirkei_Avot.2.16

            Rabbi Tarfon was a first- and second-century sage who lived in the generation after the Second Temple was destroyed (70 CE). He was a kohen (priest) who had served in the Temple as a young man, and he later became a leading teacher in Yavneh and Lod, often debating Rabbi Akiva. He was known for his generosity to the poor.