January 2025 - "How Do Prayers Work"

This has been a particularly difficult time in California with the wildfires. We are hearing horrific stories of loss and we grieve for those we don’t know and those we do. Synagogues as well as homes and other structures are gone. Yet among the devastation and the rubble there have been some remarkable accounts of miracles, as I call them. One family went back to search through the ashes and found nothing but a Chanukah menorah that had been in the family for generations. Another discovered only a mezuzah that had been in their home. Such precious artifacts!

Rabbi David Wolpe, Rabbi Emeritus from Temple Sinai in LA, reminds us that “along with the sorrow, anger, and loss, the tree re-grows, the temple is rebuilt, and the hands of Jacob reach out across generations, across time, and across places to bless us, for we will grow again.” And so, the people affected by this unfathomable loss talk, even at this early date, of rebuilding. We, here in the East, can help with donations and prayers. Check the many opportunities to send aid, as we assist our brothers and sisters on the West coast.

And speaking of prayers, be sure to zoom into our Third Friday Zoom Kabbalat Shabbat service at 7PM this Friday, January 17, when my friend Jenn Birk Goldschmidt will enlighten us with her unique perspective on “How Do Prayers Work.” Jenn is a bright, sensitive Jewish educator and leader. Read her impressive bio in the Enews this week and zoom in to be refreshed and amazed with her presentation. If I sound “over the top” about her, I am, and rightfully so. I am honored to call her my friend and to have been her Cantor for many years at my previous pulpit. You will be delighted with her message.

B’shalom,
Cantor Rena