Parshat Lekh L’kha

In this week’s parashah, Lekh L’kha, God says to Avraham:  “Walk before me and be whole.”  Immediately after that, God commands Avraham to make himself unwhole through the act of circumcision.

The S’fat Emet explains the paradox.  It is only by acknowledging that we are not complete, not self-sufficient, that we can achieve true wholeness.  Modern culture teaches us to strive for self-contained perfection, but true wholeness is not something that we can achieve on our own.  In fact the opposite is true.  The more we strive for self-sufficiency, the less integrity our lives have.  Real wholeness is something that we find in our commitments to others and to God — that is, in brit or covenant.   We are like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.  We achieve integrity, we overcome our brokenness, by joining together with others to create something larger than ourselves.   Of the many lessons that we learn from Avraham, that may be the most important.

May we, as a community of Torah, help to make each other more complete.

• Shabbat services at The New Shul are on Friday evenings from 6 to 7 pm, and on Saturday mornings from 9 am to 12 noon.  The kiddush this Shabbat is sponsored by Howard and Alice Fierstein.
• Childcare is available from 10 am to noon on Shabbat mornings.  Beyond Bim Bom, our learning service for grades K to 3 is from 10:30 to 11:15 am.
• Minyanim during the week are on Sunday mornings at 9:30 am, and on Wednesday mornings at 7 am. \
• On Shabbat morning, November 19, we will celebrate the bat mtizvah of Bailey Kaufman, daughter of Howard and Michelle Kaufman.
• Here is our Niggun of the Week, to help you get ready for Shabbat — Niggun Dmin, by Eitan Katz.