Blog

Upside Down But Not Alone

Like you, the order of my life has turned inside out. With three kids home from college, I’m frequently checking in on how everyone is doing physically, symptomatically and emotionally. And like you, in our new at-home reality, I want to make sure each has the essentials to sanity: food, shelter, safety… and creative expression. We’re find ways to be together; and like you, we guard our time for personal space.

Preparing for Pesach

After meeting basic needs, our imposed retreat yields time to feed our higher self. I’m speaking of character development, so beautifully embodied in the Midot. The foremost quality that comes to mind is Histapkut: simplicity. In letting go of what we don’t need, we learn what we really do need. What are the simple and true essentials in life?

Love and Order

Seder means “order”. During the Pesach Seder we build a shared space around a meal with a structured ritual. Seder expresses the capacity in the human soul to create and sustain personal qualities that are structured and intentional. These help us to hone our best selves.

Seeking order in our lives is a natural response to fear. Such ritual practices can help us recover a sense of power and control. We can also view order through rituals as expressions of love. Necessary disciplines of cleaning, washing hands, and taking precautions around common surfaces, these can become expressions of LOVE which hold the power to counterbalance feelings of fear.

At times like these, it’s easy to get stretched thin. Practicing these Midot -- simplicity, compassion, order -- will help each of us to adjust. Finding balance and rhythm is a group effort. It’s not up to one person to rescue and the others to receive. It’s a chain held together by harmony.

Message to Our Congregation

Let me express how grateful I am that this community exists. Especially in times of crisis, it’s self-evident how important community is. I’m proud to be part of Beth Evergreen. We provide a platform to connect to Jewish traditions and communal gatherings, supporting our Jewish life in the mountains. Even now, we offer a virtual nexus of religious services and so much more, including cultural, social, study and sharing -- reinforcing the notion that we are not alone.

For the High Holidays six months ago, I spoke about solitude and the epidemic of loneliness. Today, despite enforced physical distancing, we can deepen our inward connections that create space for social connection. Rather than seeing our need for safety as a prohibition from social depth, we can try to use this precious time to lay the groundwork for even deeper connections with one another through self-reflection and renewed clarity about what’s most important in life, and through virtual gatherings. This way, once the cloud is lifted, our in-person gatherings will resume with even more depth and meaning.

Inspiration for Pesach and the Omer:

I invite you to step back and consider what is most essential in our lives. As we celebrate our freedom from slavery and journey through the unknown, take a respite from fear and ask: Where are we on the journey home? What’s the destination? With the vast horizon in front of us, in what direction will we choose to set the compass?

The New Four Questions for Pesach This Year

1. Where am I?
2. Where are we as a family?
3. Where are we as a community?
4. Where are we as a people on the journey home?

Hodesh Tov. Shalom.
Rabbi Jamie