Dear JCOGS family,
You are not going to want to miss tonight’s service. Let me tell you why.
Monday was International Women’s Day and March is Women’s History Month. These are occasions to celebrate the achievements of women, while also acknowledging and working to end their enduring suffering under patriarchy.
In this week’s Torah portion, as the Israelites continue to build the Mishkan, the portable tabernacle they carried with them in the wilderness, we learn of the offerings the people brought for its construction:
Thus the Israelites, all the men and women whose hearts moved them to bring anything for the work that G-d, through Moses, had commanded to be done, brought it as a freewill offering to G-d.
More often than not in the Torah, women are not named explicitly alongside men, but rather subsumed into the entire people (i.e., the men). Yet here, the Torah continues:
And all the women skilled and wise of heart spun with their own hands, and brought what they had spun, in blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and in fine linen.
Thus the fabric, the very textile itself, but also the fabric of community was woven together as one seamless garment, among all genders and expressions, each person bringing their gifts and skills, each offering the wisdom of their hearts.
Tonight, trail-blazing vocalist, scholar, composer, and cantor Dr. Galeet Dardashti joins us for Shabbat, as we co-sponsor with Temple Sinai of South Burlington a series of programs presented by Dr. Dardashti. We gather at 6pm for a schmooze to get to know our Temple Sinai neighbours, and 6:30pm for an unforgettable Mizrahi/Sephardi Shabbat service and talk about her Persian roots and studies. Register here.
Galeet is also a dear friend of mine and Alison’s, and is someone who has visited us at JCOGS in the past—even brilliantly chanting Kiddush for those who were lucky enough to be there that Friday night.
She is a woman of outrageous talent and full of spirit. Have a listen for yourself: here’s a recording of hers of Oseh Shalom and one of Yigdal.
What better way to celebrate women’s living, breathing, singing history, while also celebrating our Jewish Persian and broader Sephardi/Mizrahi communal offerings than with tonight’s Shabbat service and with the two other upcoming programs: Israeli Music Goes Mizrahi, March 17, 7pm, and Get Your Sephardi/Mizrahi Pesach Groove On, March 31, 7pm.
Tihiyu bri’im, stay safe, be well. Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David
p.s. If you have not yet checked out our Passover offerings, please do. Lots of events as well as resources to get you prepared for the festival.
