Keeping Connected with Rabbi Perry
Bring the Light
Keeping Connected December 2023
Dear Friends,
I feel dumbstruck that Chanukkah starts in a week. To say that my sense of time has collapsed since Simchat Torah – October 7th, would be an understatement. The massacre that happened in Israel on that day, along with the videos of hostages being taken away by cheering terrorists, shook our world. I can only speak for myself, but the images and news stories from Israel and Gaza, of the pain on the faces of Israelis and Palestinians, has left me feeling shattered. Recently I tried to express to colleagues what I was thinking and feeling and I concluded by saying that it seems impossible to hold within myself all the conflicting emotions, truths, concerns, fear, anger, and hope at one time. From a spiritual and emotional perspective I sense that I, and perhaps all of us, were thrown into the darkness of winter, long before Chanukkah, the festival that traditionally marks the beginning of the season of dormancy and darkness.
Congregation Shalom and Community
Keeping Connected November 2023
Dear Friends,
I was recently teaching a 6th Grade Family Connection program introducing our students and their parents to the B’Mitzvah program at Congregation Shalom. I invited the families to work together to write a definition for “community” and then to give seven examples of groups that they thought fulfilled the definition. Their definitions clearly captured the idea that a “community” is a group of people who come together over shared interests, goals, and values, and that the members have responsibilities for the group and each other, while also offering support and encouragement to one another.More
Sukkot and our Planet
Keeping Connected October 2023
Dear Friends,
As I sit to write, the sun will soon set and the Jewish community will usher in the festival of Sukkot. This holiday is an opportunity for the joyous celebration of the harvest in our lives, both physical and spiritual. When we engage in the rituals of Sukkot, we express gratitude for the bounty of our earth. Sukkot, however, also teaches us about the fragility of our lives and the planet. We remind ourselves of this vulnerability by building and eating in the Sukkah, a temporary and tenuous dwelling place. It is ironic that today, on the eve of Sukkot, the news has been filled with stories of devastating rains falling in New York City. More than 8 inches of rain, more than at any other time since 1948, fell at JFK airport. In Brooklyn in three hours’ time, about a month’s worth of rain fell. The photos show devasting and life-threatening images of water flooding streets, subways, buildings and more. These devastating floods, as well as the rain, other floods, overwhelming heat and fires of the past summer are all indications of just how vulnerable our planet is. Most scientists agree that all of these are symptoms of climate change.More
A Prayer for the New Year
Keeping Connected September 2023
Dear Friends,
Over the years you have perhaps learned that my soul is time and again inspired by nature and observation. There is so much wisdom, sometimes beautiful, sometimes poignant, to learn from the world around us. As I prepare for the Yamim Noraim, the High Holidays, both as a rabbi and as an individual on her own spiritual journey, I am especially attuned to what is going on around me, looking for inspiration. All summer long I feel as though I am squirreling away ideas, thoughts, images and more, all with the hope of being able to share with our community experiences and words that might stir and motivate you in your own inner work of these Days of Awe. Early in the month you will receive a letter with the details of our service schedule, but in the meanwhile, I would like to turn away from logistics and share a poem that I recently read; one that I found personally meaningful. I hope in some small way it inspires you too and that this new year will bring you renewal, growth, hope, and purpose.
L’shanah Tovah,
Rabbi Shoshana M. Perry
A Prayer for the New Year
a poem by Rich OrloffAs the New Year approaches, I pray:
May I be more open to love
Recognizing it in its myriad of disguises
Letting it sneak through guarded borders to soothe my wounded soulMay I be more open to life
Not comparing it to my unreasonable fantasy
Of what life should be
But embracing life as one would a tender child doing their bestMay I be more open to myself
Admitting my foibles and respecting their place in the constellation
May I deepen trust in my friends
And notice every time I meet a trustworthy strangerMay I let go of grievances that have become relics of history
Accepting that the past can never be changed
May I lose my attraction to suffering
And resist its seductive lureMay I nurture and encourage others
May I enjoy forgiveness
May I embrace grace
May I allow love to inspire actionMay I be inscribed in the Book of Life
But as importantly
In each day and with each breath
May the Book of Life be inscribed inside me
High Holiday Season Preview
August 2022 Keeping Connected
Dear Friends,
These steamy days of July have me thinking about the cool days of Autumn. I am starting to make plans regarding the High Holiday season, our coming Shabbat services, adult education, school and more. This coming year will be the 2nd year since we have learned to adapt to the changing dynamic of living with Covid. I can’t say that things are “normal” and that we should just return to doing things the way we used to. Why? Well things are not the same. The challenging part is that there are members of our community who continue to need to be cautious about how they participate in public events and for these folks we need to continue to offer spiritual and education opportunities that allow them to participate while still feeling safe. We also learned that some of our new traditions, like the parking lot Rosh Hashanah gathering, outdoor Torah readings, Shofar services and Blessing of the Moon are meaningful, spiritual and even fun. I share all of these insights in order to say that hybrid High Holidays is the new normal.More
Pesach and Stories from Ukraine
April 2022. Keeping Connected
Dear Friends,
In just a few week’s our congregation, along with Jewish communities around the world, will be celebrating Pesach. The spiritual and moral themes of Pesach have always been profoundly meaningful to me, but this year the messages of freedom, liberty and welcoming the stranger feel particularly resonant. Last week I participated in an on-line meeting hosted by the World Union for Progressive Judaism. Together with Reform rabbis from around the world, we listened to our liberal rabbinic colleagues from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It was a powerful and humbling experience to hear their personal stories. These rabbis and their congregants are facing challenges few of us could ever imagine. Because of issues of security all of those participating in the call promised not to quote anyone directly, to share the speaker’s names or their current locations. I have been provided a summary of their stories and requests for help. In this brief note, I will try to highlight some of the important points and information.
Please reach out to me directly if you would like to get more involved.
L’shalom and Chag Pesach Sameach,
Rabbi Shoshana M. PerryMore