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The New Shul

Parshat Vayeilekh/Shabbat Shuvah

In this week’s parashah, Vayeilekh, Moshe hands the Torah over to the priests, and commands them to teach it to the people every seven years once they are settled in the land of Israel. “At the end of every seven years. . . recite this Torah in the presence of the entire people so that they can hear it — gather the people together.”


Rabbi Avraham Mordekhai of Ger noted that the order of the sentence seems to be backwards. Why does “gather the people together” come after “recite this Torah” rather than before it? Rabbi Avraham Mordekhai explained that “gather the people together” is actually the content of the Torah that Moshe wants the priests to teach to the people. Moshe is commanding the priests to teach the people the Torah of their own togetherness. When we stand together in a spirit of love and unity, our closeness to one another is in itself a kind of sacred text, a source of spiritual insight. Our bond to one another opens doors to the divine.
As we stand together as a community this Yom Kippur, may our sense of oneness with each other bring us closer to God’s oneness.

  • 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.
  • Childcare is available from 10 am to noon on Shabbat mornings. Children’s services this Shabbat are: Beyond Bim Bom I for grades K to 1 from 10:15 to 11:00 am, and TweenTefillah for grades 4 to 6 from 10:15 to 11:30 am.
  • Erev Yom Kippur is Tuesday evening September 25. Kol Nidre begins at 5:45 pm. Services for Yom Kippur, Wednesday September 26, begin at 8:15 am, and continue through the day with a break of about of about two hours in the afternoon. We will blow the shofar to end the fast at 7 pm. Afterwards the shul will host a break-fast open to all. Complete information on our Yom Kippur services, including information on parking and childcare, is available here.
  • Erev Sukkot is Sunday evening September 30. Our service for Erev Sukkot is at 6 pm. Services for the first two days of Sukkot, Monday and Tuesday October 1 and 2, begin at 9 am.
  • Sh’mini Atzeret is on Monday October 8.  Our service begins at 9 am, and includes Yizkor, the memorial prayer.
  • Celebrate Simhat Torah with us, with hakafot and dancing, on Monday evening October 8 beginning at 6:45 pm, and on Tuesday October 9 beginning at 9 am.
  • Please note that there will be no email bulletin next Thursday September 27.