Let’s bring in Shabbat together with an hour of praying, singing, remembering loved ones and raising a glass afterwards at our Oneg. Services are at 6:15pm. What a delight to be together with friends to welcome the Sabbath.
Tomorrow we will read a parsha abundant with descriptions of how to live a meaningful Jewish life. The Torah asks us to think about protecting our families and friends who walk near our homes, and we get direction about how to engage the world within a moral framework.
“Build a parapet on your roof; do not be guilty of injury or worse…” Deuteronomy 22:8. While it relates to building codes some commentators go the direction of reminding us that there’s a general philosophy being discussed about building guardrails into our person thinking architecture. Be careful to know the moral fence around thoughts that are in free-fall and trending with ways of thinking that are too extremist, irrational or fantastic.
Judaism provides a systems approach in our lives that guards against “off the rails” extremism. The moral guidance in this week’s reading helps us refine our very human ways of reacting and rationalizing, and when we sit in synagogue to consider the teachings of Torah for our lives we come out renewed of spirit!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Bolton