Parshat Yitro

This week’s parashah, Yitro, tells the story of the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.  Before giving us the Torah, God promises:  “If you will truly hear my voice. . . you will be my treasured possession.”

The S’fat Emet noted that the first letters of the Hebrew words “you will truly hear my voice” [shamoa tishma b’koli] are the letters of the word Shabbat.  He understood that as a hint that, on Shabbat, our day of quiet, we can hear God’s voice more clearly than at any other time.

The ancient rabbis taught that the voice of Sinai calls out every minute of every day.  But it is a “still-small voice,” deeper than a whisper.  The stresses, tensions and distractions of the work week easily drown it out.  But on Shabbat, when we turn down the volume of the world around us, we hear God’s call from deep within ourselves.  We feel commanded once again to make our lives a source of blessing.  May this Shabbat, and every Shabbat, make room within us for the voice of Sinai to be heard.

• 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. This Shabbat, February 15, LeahHadas Targovnik Jacobs will be called to the Torah as a bat mitzvah. The kiddush-lunch will be sponsored by the Targovnik-Jacobs family.
• Childcare is available on Shabbat mornings from 10 am to noon.
• Minyanim during the week are on Sunday mornings at 9:30 am, and on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 6:30 pm.
• Purim begins on Monday evening March 9. Join us at The New Shul for our megillah reading and sh’piel at 7:15 pm.