From Our Rabbi - Temple Beth Shalom

[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Image_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget]

[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Headline_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget]

[siteorigin_widget class=”WP_Widget_Custom_HTML”][/siteorigin_widget]

Dear Friends,

Going to synagogue should be a simple thing, to be in a place where one can open oneself up to feeling God’s Presence.

At Tree of Life – Or L’Simcha Congregation in Pittsburgh, that simplicity was shattered. A place of prayer was transformed into a murder scene. How does one respond? By denying the alleged murderer the satisfaction of scaring one away from one’s synagogue, one’s JCC, and any other place one attends as an expression of one’s Judaism.

This week, I plan to #ShowUpForShabbat, and I hope you will too. We cannot let the hate of one man prevent us from a quintessentially Jewish activity: gathering on Shabbat to attend services.

Even if you aren’t a regular synagogue attendee, even if you have something else planned for Friday night or Saturday morning, I urge you to go to your local synagogue, and attend there in memory of the victims, in solidarity with the survivors, and as a statement of our People’s refusal to abandon our fellow Jews.

Services at Temple Beth Shalom this week are at 7:45 PM on Friday, and 10:00 AM on Saturday. Thursday’s minyan begins at 8:00 AM

May God be a Source of Comfort,

Rabbi