Shofar Adar/Nisan 5770
Jewish Family Congregation www.jewishfamilycongregation.org
March 2010
From the Rabbi’s Desk As I write this, mid-February, we have just recently had two winter storms, leaving many inches of snow everywhere we look. Perhaps I am especially sensitive to this, having just returned from a vacation in Florida…but frankly, I‘m ready for spring. Apparently on February 2nd, the ground hog predicted another six weeks of winter, which would take us to mid-March. I hope he proves more accurate than our weather forecasters have been, of late. Of course, as I write, that means a minimum of another month of white vistas, shoveling and icy road conditions. Jewish practice helps people like me to stay tuned to the passage of time at this season of the year in particular, by inviting us to be aware of the seasons. Until some minor festivals entered the Jewish calendar around 2000 years ago, there was a long, empty stretch from Sukkot (in the fall) till Pesakh (in the spring). Happily for us, Chanukah was established at approximately the winter solstice, Tu B‘Shvat for six weeks later, and Purim for a month after that. Another month, and we come to Pesakh, which the Torah describes as ―the festival of spring.‖ That‘s how we get from the High Holy Days, through fall and winter, to spring! Chanukah ends at the new moon, which makes it easy to count to the next new moon, and Tu B‘Shvat occurs on the next full moon, a total of six weeks later. Purim occurs on the next full moon and Pesakh on the next full moon after that. From Tu B‘Shvat onward, we are encouraged to anticipate Pesakh (and by implication, spring). Many years, our Early Childhood Center kids plant parsley seeds on Tu B‘Shvat (because we can‘t exactly plant trees in January!). With a little luck, those plants will be mature enough to use on the seder plate two months later. In addition, our sages added five special Sabbaths between Tu B‘Shvat and Pesakh, each to cause us to look forward to the spring festival. Shabbat Sh‘kalim is the occasion From the Rabbi’s Desk The Religious School Early Childhood Center Service Schedule Oneg Schedule Shopping Card Form The President’s Message Donations to JFC
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on which, in antiquity, adult Jews paid their tax of a half shekel each toward the maintenance of the Temple in Jerusalem (think of it as their dues). This was done well in advance of Pesakh so the Temple could be readied for that holiday, one of the most important of the year. Shabbat Zakhor comes a few weeks later, immediately before Purim. It reminds us that Pesakh is one month after Purim, and connects those two festivals via the memory of Haman, a descendant of the Amalekites who tormented the Israelites on their journey away from Egypt. Shabbat Parah is celebrated a couple of weeks later; the special maftir (concluding verses read from Torah) for this Shabbat is from Numbers 19, which describes the rituals of the red heifer. That animal was sacrificed and its ashes were used to purify anyone who had become ritually contaminated, so he could participate in the
Jewish practice helps us stay tuned to the passage of time…by inviting us to be aware of the seasons . observance of Pesakh. And Shabbat HaHodesh follows, announcing that the month of Nisan is about to begin; Nisan is the month in which Pesakh occurs. Last comes Shabbat HaGadol, the ―great Sabbath,‖ which immediately precedes Pesakh. Our sages used that occasion to remind people of the special dietary rules that apply for Pesakh, and to help them plan to get rid of all the leavened food they might have at home. So the Jewish calendar really does direct us, even while the snow is deep around us, to think forward to spring, and to Pesakh. Pesakh is the festival that celebrates our liberation from slavery. That by itself should lift our spirits. But especially because it arrives along with milder weather and the appearance of the early flowers of spring, daffodils, crocuses, forsythia and tulips, it is an invitation to hope and to a certain
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