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The New Shul

Parshat B’reisheet

In this week’s parashah, B’reisheet, God asks two questions of the human beings that he has created. After Adam and Eve have eaten from the tree of knowledge, God confronts Adam with the question, “Ayekah — Where are you?”  Later, after Cain has killed his brother Abel, God asks Cain, “Ay Hevel akhikhah — Where is Abel your brother?”

Those are the two essential questions that we struggle with during the Days of Awe. Where do stand in relation to God, and where do we stand in relation to the people around us? Perhaps the Torah puts those two questions to us here, at the very beginning of its narrative, to remind us that those questions are the essence of God’s call to us at all times. The deepest mitzvah, which underlies all other mitzvot, is to understand that we are accountable. All else flows from that.

Every Shabbat, we try to quiet the noise in our lives so that we can hear the still-small voice of Sinai whispering those questions:  Where are you? and Where are your brothers and sisters?

  • 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 Jordan and Cathy Benmeir.
  • 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 Tween Tefillah for grades 4 to 6 from 10:15 to 11:30 am.
  • Minyanim during the week are on Sunday mornings at 9:30 am and on Wednesday mornings at 7 am.
  • The New Shul book group meets on Wednesday October 17 at 7:30 pm. The book is The Dove Keepers by Alice Hoffman.
  • Finding Our Way, Rabbi Wasserman’s class on Jewish prayer, continues after kiddush on Shabbat afternoon, October 20.
  • On Shabbat morning, October 27, we will celebrate the bar mitzvah of Joel Olgin, son of Marc and Melissa Olgin.
  • Join us for Friday night dinner at The New Shul on November 2 after the 6 pm service. The cost is $18 per adult and $10 per child or teen under 18 (no charge for kids under 5). Please send in your payment to make your reservation by Oct. 26.