Dear JCOGS family,
Experiencing these past two weeks with so many of you has filled me up with such meaning. As the gates closed on Yom Kippur during our Ne’ilah service, I could not help but smile with joy that we shared so much throughout these days through prayer, food, learning, and community-building. I saw tears of meaning shed and heard voices rising in song and laughter spreading.
Joy is precisely the emotion we look ahead to as we welcome Sukkot. Why is Yom Kippur only one day, while Sukkot is eight? Because we should not wallow in self-affliction for too long. Life is meant to be enjoyed. So, Sukkot is called
Zman Simchateinu/The Season of Our Joy. Embrace joy.
Looking ahead to the holiday that begins Sunday eve, think tacos, pizza, l’chayyim, scholar-in-residence, and shaking lulav, etrog, and yes, tuchus. Try your best to pronounce
schach, that natural stuff that is the “roof” of the sukkah, that temporary hut that we dwell in for these eight days, and bring some with you to the JCOGS Sukkah raising on Sunday.
As I reminded us at the end of Yom Kippur, we don’t only gather once a year as Jews. Oh, you High Holy Day Jews… don’t be strangers the rest of the year! It brings me personal joy to see you the rest of the year, starting with Sukkot. Scroll down for details of ALL the many happenings this week.
Finally, even as we embrace this season of joy, it’s still good to carry on self-reflecting. If you didn’t have a chance to hear them or want a refresher,
click HERE for all the sermons/divrei Torah and speeches from Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, or feel free to share them with family and friends. AND join us
TONIGHT at JCOGS in the sanctuary as Reverend Dan Haugh of the Stowe Community Church offers us a sermon entitled "From a distance." Then stay for the delicious oneg sponsored by Patsy and Michael Kasakoff in honour of their anniversary.
Tihiyu bri’im, be well. Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David
