Parshat Va’eira
In this week’s parashah, Va’eira, God reveals to Moshe a divine name, an aspect of God’s identity, that even Avraham, Yitzhak and Yaakov did not know. Henceforth, Moshe and the children of Israel will know God in a way that even the patriarchs, as great as they were, did not.
The point is that new situations open up the possibility of new religious insights. Each generation has the potential — and the need — to know God in new ways. That is what we mean when we speak of Torah as a living thing, a Tree of Life. Torah grows as we grow, as we add our insights to those that we have inherited.
Our work as a community of Torah is to try to hear God’s voice from the new place where we stand, to learn what we, and only we, can learn by virtue of our moment in history. May that work bring joy and meaning to our lives.
- 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-lunch this Shabbat, January 17, is sponsored by the shul.
- Childcare on Shabbat mornings is available from 10 am to noon. Our learning service for pre-schoolers thorugh grade 2 is from 11 to 11:45 am.
- Minyanim during the week are on Sunday mornings at 9:30 am and Wednesday mornings at 7 am.
- This Sunday, January 18, The New Shul will host the first day of a two-day Mussar retreat, co-sponsored by the Valley Beit Midrash. On Monday January 19, the retreat will continue at Temple Chai. Further information is available here.
- Join us at The New Shul for an Israeli dance workshop on Tuesday January 20 at 7:00 pm.
- The New Shul community’s annual meeting is on Sunday morning January 25 at 10:30 am. All are welcome.
- Registration is now open for LimmudAZ, a community-wide day of Jewish learning on Sunday February 8, from 8:30 am to 5 pm. 45 presenters, from our community and from around the country, will teach on topics from “Jews and Chocolate” to“Shakespeare’s Shylock” to “Jewish Mysticism Made Simple”to “The Bible and Bruce (Springsteen).” Further information is available at limmudaz.org.
- The New Shul will host the first-ever greater Phoenix “Sermon Slam” on Saturday night February 14 at 7:30 pm. Further information is available here.