B’har/B’hukotai

One of the themes of parshat B‘har (the first of this week’s two parshiyot) is the responsibility that members of a community have to care for one another. “If your brother, being in straits, comes under your authority. . . let him live by your side.” Focusing on the words “by your side,” Rabbi Shlomo of Karlin taught that, if we wish to help a person who is stuck in the mud, we must get down into the mud with him/her. We cannot save someone from above, but only side-by-side.

In other words, the kind of help and advice that can be offered from above — from a position of pity as opposed to empathy — is often not as helpful as we think. When people struggle, when they feel isolated and cut off, their deepest need is to know that they are not alone. By being present with them, by their side — by truly listening — we help them to recover their sense of self, their dignity as human beings. By standing next to them, we help them in a way that we cannot from above.

May we be privileged to help each other, in that deepest sense, in times of need.

• The New Shul’s Shabbat services 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.
• Minyanim during the week are on Sunday mornings at 9:30 am, Monday evenings at 7 pm, Wednesday mornings at 7 am, and Wednesday evenings at 7 pm.
• Shavuot begins on Saturday night May 19. Join us for our all-night Tikkun Leil Shavuot from 9:30 pm on Saturday night through dawn on Sunday morning. The Tikkun will end with morning prayers outdoors at sunrise.
• The service for the second day of Shavuot, Monday May 21, will begin at 9 am and will include Yizkor, the memorial prayer.
• Join us for Friday night dinner at The New Shul on June 15, after the 6 pm service. The cost is $18 per adult, and $9 per child under 13 (no charge for children under 5). Please make your reservation by sending in your payment by June 8. If you wish to pay on-line, you can do so here.