INTERIM RABBI'S MESSAGE

‘Where are You?’ The Key Question of Passover & Beyond

I am honored to be joining you as interim rabbi on our journey together as a communal family at Beth Torah. By way of introducing myself and my approach to renewing traditional Judaism I share with you the key question of Passover and beyond posed by one of my spiritual heroes: the Warsaw Ghetto rebbe also known as Rabbi Kalonymus Kalmish Shapira (1889-1943). Every moment of life he saw as ripe for self-examination, so too, Passover, when we recite these words everyone knows well from the Haggadah:

“In every generation a person must see their true self [‘atzmo] as if they were redeemed from Egypt...”

A person is just a way-station for this-worldly thoughts that buffet and batter the mind if there is not a deeper anchor. All these thoughts come and go, but the higher self is not to be found. So when God asked fi rst Adam: “Where are you?” (Genesis 3: 9) the question is really whether you are missing something of your wholeness? If I realize that I am empty, then I am becoming wise enough to be aware of that need to be fi lled with illumination. Until this moment of asking myself this question, “Where are you?” I was completely missing my integrated self and its sacred capacity, rather I was simply a way-station for the world around me, but I had not transformed those potentialities into sacred service. I invite you to join me over the next dozen shabbatonim when I visit Beth Torah to be with you all on this sacred journey of becoming more deeply connected to the key questions of life, becoming more human and more Jewish in the process together.

A zissen Pesach! Rav Aubrey Glazer