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2024 Archived Messages: Word from Our Rabbi

Rabbi Dr. Janet B Liss, December 2024

Keepers of Light

At our last Friday Shabbat Service, I gave out small flashlights following my sermon. The flashlights represent our role as a community to provide light for each other and keep our community together. As we approach our Festival of Lights, Chanukah, I will call upon you to bring your light to help make a difference in our Jewish world.

Every five years the World Zionist Congress, founded by Theodore Herzl in Basil in 1897, meets in Jerusalem. We have elections every 5 years to determine the number of delegates from America who will represent the Reform Movement at the Congress. I have been privileged to be a delegate for the last two congresses and I can tell you that your vote is important.

The election will take place online between March 10 and May 4th and this election allows us to help shape Israeli society. Reform delegates to the WZC have the power to help direct resources to organizations that promote our Reform values of pluralism, shared society, democracy, security, and a Jewish future.

What happens in Israel affects Jews in the diaspora and we have witnessed this dramatically since October 7, 2023. The WZC is our vehicle for impacting Israeli society, championing our values, and supporting the growth of Reform and Liberal Judaism in Israel. It is our obligation to the Jewish people to share our voice to vote no matter what your politics are, or brand of Zionism you support. We are called to support justice.

Why does this matter? The Ultra Religious Parties are running on a platform specifically against Reform Judaism and they want to relegate Reform Jews, women, LGBTQ+, and ethnic minorities as second-class citizens. 5 billion dollars is on the table and the delegates decide which organizations in Israel will receive this money and have representation in the major positions in these organizations.

Our goal is to have 60,000+ votes in this election. Will you be counted as one of them? In the coming months, you will hear more about how to vote from me. Your vote and voice can make a difference. Please help us promote our values in the State of Israel. I witnessed firsthand that our values do not match those of the ultra Orthodox rabbis in our committee meetings where we were able to pass resolutions supporting LGBTQ+ rights and other resolutions representing our values. There is strength in numbers and last time we barely eeked out a majority. This is going to be a very important election.

May this Festival of Lights bring hope, light and joy into our hearts.

Shalom,

Rabbi Liss

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Rabbi Dr. Janet B Liss, November 2024

A week in the life of a “retired” rabbi

So often people wonder what exactly a rabbi does all week. Though certainly not typical, I would like to share what this week has been like for me. The Una Taneh tokef prayer of the High Holy Days is always either in the back or forefront of my mind depending on what I am dealing with at any particular moment. Who shall live and who shall die are poignant words, especially for those of us who deal with life and death in our everyday work. I started the week on Sunday with a beautiful wedding of a couple who met when they were 11 years old in a Jewish summer camp, spent 8 summers together at camp, and years later after dating all through their 20s tied the knot. On Monday, a congregant let me know that her mom died and her sister’s rabbi was going to do the funeral in New Jersey on Wednesday. On Wednesday, I got a call from a woman (I had done her Bat Mitzvah, her confirmation, her wedding, and the baby naming of her child), that her mom was in the hospital. She had complications from an endoscopy and all of her vital organs were shutting down by that afternoon when I got to the hospital. Grace and I sang a Mi Shebarach for her and the family, spent time with all of them, and before we had even arrived home, she died. She was only 73 years old. Wednesday night we called Jesse Harris who was going in the following morning for a kidney transplant to sing a Mi Shebarach for her to ask for God’s blessings upon her before her surgery. On Thursday, I was meeting with a family whose dad had died, and I was doing the eulogy intake when two things happened. I got a text from Zvi Harris that the surgery went well, and then I got an emergency call from Grace. We have glass shelving in our living room with glass doors. Grace opened the doors to put something on a shelf and out of nowhere, one of the extremely heavy glass doors suddenly crashed to the floor, landing on our beloved toy poodle Jesse’s spine, then shattered in a gazillion pieces. He is one month shy of his 18th birthday. Ironically, I left the family connected to me through a past president of our synagogue here in New York who is also our vet. They told me not to worry because their deceased father loved dogs and we would talk before the service on Sunday. We rushed poor Jesse to the emergency vet hospital and his back legs seemed to be paralyzed. He is heavily sedated now and things don’t look good for him. On the way home from an appointment this morning (it’s Friday), I had to pull over to do a 4-way conversation with the family of the woman who died Wednesday, to make funeral plans. I came home for a while and had a phone call from my close friend who lives in Jerusalem. We spoke about the craziness happening in both countries and she described the Simchat Torah Services in her synagogue where there was no one who wasn’t crying during the service. Yes, there is so much heartbreak in the world today. Every day the news out of Israel is astounding, no matter how you look at it. She was questioning why Israel waited so long to take out the Hezbollah leaders if they had the precision technology to do this in both Lebanon and Iran. People have not been able to live in the north of Israel for over a year now because of the Hezbollah bombs that keep coming from southern Lebanon. She talked to me about a conversation she had with a friend who wants Israel to level Gaza and Lebanon completely. When she tried to talk about the insanity of what the woman was suggesting, pointing out how many innocent people have already been killed, the woman could not take off her blinders. The parallels between the politics and divide in Israel and in America are unbelievable. It was really good to hear from my dear friend but it was not an uplifting call. We then left to go lead a shiva minyan for the congregant whose 101 ½ year old mother died on Monday.

When I was in the hospital, I talked to the daughter of the woman who was so sick, about how life can turn on a dime and we never know from moment to moment what life brings our way. We really do not know how tenuous life can be. Do me a favor, live life to the fullest, really love your loved ones and friends, do not procrastinate, and be passionate about your life. We only have this life to enjoy, take advantage of opportunities, and do not let petty things get in the way of your happiness.

I look forward to seeing you in two weeks.

Shalom,

Rabbi Liss

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Rabbi Dr. Janet B Liss, October 2024

On Wednesday evening, together, we will usher in the New Year, 5785. On one hand this past year flew by and at the same time, counting daily the number of days the hostages have been held in Gaza has been excruciatingly slow. On October 7th, they will have been in captivity for one year and a day. I am looking forward to seeing you for the holidays and hope to be able to have real conversations with you. If we have not seen each other since this time last year, please reintroduce yourself to me. The holidays are a time to come together with your Jewish family, and your community. When we hear the shofar calls on Rosh Hashana, I hope that each one of us will be stirred to action, our hearts will be open, and we will be in the right frame of mind to have a meaningful spiritual experience. None of this happens if we do not take the steps required of us to make sure that we enter the space of the High Holy Days in a positive mental place. Between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur we have one task to do to prepare for Yom Kippur. We are called upon to make amends with those we have hurt in the past year. We are asked to forgive those who have hurt us. I beseech you to do this with your temple family members and those in your own circle of life. On Yom Kippur, we make amends with God for the ways we fell short but only after we have done this on a human level. This year has been very difficult for the global Jewish community. With everything that has happened, the one message we can take from it, is that it is not worth it to hold on to grudges and anger we harbor against our own.

After the kiddush luncheon on Rosh Hashana, we will head down to the water to symbolically cast aside our sins as we partake in the Tashlich Service. The service is short, and meaningful, and contains readings written in light of the events of October 7th. I hope you will bring comfortable shoes and join us for this meaningful experience.

I am very excited to be able to be with you again this year and look forward to sharing these special days with you. If you have any photos of yourself and your family doing Jewish things, please email them to me. I will be happy to incorporate them in the PowerPoint that will be shared with those who are joining us on zoom.

On behalf of Grace and myself, we wish you and yours a very Happy and Healthy New Year.

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Rabbi Dr. Janet B Liss, September 2024

Today I am heartbroken. The news broke that six hostages were found dead. By that night, we learned that they all had been recently shot. Six young people who were taken from the Nova music festival and managed to survive in unthinkable conditions were shot probably the day before they were found. We grieve with the families of Hersh Goldberg-Polin,z”l; Carmel Gaf z”l; Eden Yerushalmi z”l; Almog Sardis z”l; Alexander Lobanov z”l; and Ori Danilo z”l. Hersh’s picture is up on bus stops, on fences, and on walls all over Israel. His parents have spoken all over the world. They spoke at the DNC convention. They have been to the White House. His mom spoke at the November March on Washington. They along with the whole household of Israel are heartbroken.

When will Israel and the world learn? In the 90s and 2000s, as part of rabbinic missions, we would meet with PLO leadership in the West Bank. Their walls were covered with maps of Israel except the land mass was green and had Palestine written over it. I remember walking out after our meetings saying to colleagues “They are naïve, That isn’t going to happen.” Right in front of us we saw the truth. They wanted a Palestinian state that encompasses all of Israel. I bring this up because a number of weeks ago an order was issued that if Hamas was being attacked, they should kill their hostages. Why didn’t Israel believe that would happen? It did.

For months we have stated that there are no words to express our sorrow, our grief, our disbelief. How can we hold the enormous pain of this loss and hold fear for those who remain in captivity?

I want to share with you the words posted by my colleague, Rabbi Haviva Ner-David in Israel the day after the murders:

May our prayers bring comfort and help renew our hope in these darkest of days. Today we join God in those tears, that rain that never falls this time of year. Our tears are comingled with tears of everyone grieving for Israel. May God open the eyes and hearts of the decision-makers in Israel and save the remaining hostages.

May God comfort all who mourn in Zion and Jerusalem

Rabbi Liss

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Rabbi Dr. Janet B Liss, August 2024

Shalom everyone! I am very excited to be coming back to begin another year in Hickory. It is hard to believe how quickly this year has gone by. I really enjoyed getting to know so many of you and having the opportunity to worship together and study together. I want to thank those of you who have opened your homes to Grace and me by graciously hosting us for weekends and inviting us to dinner on Fridays prior to Shabbat Services. The time we have spent together has been very special and I am thrilled to be continuing with you.

This past year has been challenging for every Jew across the world. The news out of Israel is dismaying every day. I cannot even begin to imagine the state of mind the hostages are in having been in captivity since October 7th. Every time I read of more hostages’ bodies being brought back home, I cry. I cannot fathom the pain and anguish they and their families are experiencing every day.

I recently started collecting headlines on the constant attacks of antisemitism here in America. To learn today of the vandalism on the site of the Tree of Life Synagogue where Jews had been gunned down during prayer was very troubling. Incident after incident has happened, many under the guise of some sort of retaliation for what is happening in the War on Gaza. For many years, we as Jews have lived in the golden age of American Jewry in American Jewish history. It is not unreasonable to question what the end game is here. When will this newly unbridled hatred unleashed on the Jewish community be stopped? We have this juxtaposed with everyone running for president having close relatives who are Jewish. North Carolina could have a Jewish Governor and Pennsylvania does.

This certainly will be an interesting year for all of us. When will the hostages come home? When will the Gaza War end? How will the actions of Hezbollah be responded to by Israel? Will there be a war with Lebanon? Given the 100,000’s of rockets Hezbollah is purported to have, can Israel survive a war with Lebanon?

We certainly have much to pray for in the coming year and much to be grateful for in our own lives. I look forward to sharing in both our joys and the trials and tribulations that come with living in our time. I hope you can come to Services and Adult Education to learn and have stimulating conversations over the weekend of August 23rd.

I hope you are enjoying your summer!

Rabbi Dr. Janet B. Liss

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Rabbi Dr. Janet B Liss, Summer 2024

On Tuesday, June 11, at sundown, the Festival of Shavuot begins. Shavuot comes 49 days after the beginning of Passover and is one of the three pilgrim festivals. Shavuot is both a harvest holiday and it’s when we celebrate receiving the Torah at Mt. Sinai. Traditionally we stand as a congregation as the 10 Commandments are read, re-enacting the moment that took place thousands of years ago. The 10 Commandments are 10 of 613. They are so important that they appear twice in the Torah. On numerous occasions, I have done this exercise with different groups of people. So imagine for a moment that we are doing this now. If we were to write 10 Commandments today for our society, what would we want them to include? I would begin with, 1) Treat everyone with kindness as we are all created in the image of God. 2) stop idolizing people and material objects. 3) foster peace between your family, your community, your country and the world. 4) Truly observe Shabbat, study your religion and be eager to perform mitzvot. 5) Do not steal anything; intellectual property, material possessions, another’s dignity, someone else’s person, or anything that isn’t yours. 6) Be truthful, do not lie or take advantage of vulnerable people. 7) Do not oppress the stranger, remember that your family came from some place else too, welcome the stranger, help the stranger in your midst. 8) work every day to make a difference in this world. 9) Never hurt another human being, guard your speech and your actions. 10) work hard to be happy and enjoy every minute of your lives.

Imagine how much better the world would be if everyone followed the original 10 Commandments! On Shavuot it is customary to only eat dairy products as it was forbidden to eat meat when the Israelites received Torah. This was also one of the three times a year when all Jewish males were required to go to the Temple in Jerusalem and bring their firstborn of both the flocks and children if they were male for redemption at the Temple, as well as the first fruits of the harvest season. So, while we no longer make this pilgrimage to Jerusalem, we still go to synagogue, we still eat dairy and hopefully, we can still enjoy the fruits of our labor whatever they may be.

We will be having Shabbat Services on June 14th and 15th and I hope you will join us then. I wish you all a Chag Sameach, a Happy Holiday, and look forward to our first summer services together.

Rabbi Dr. Janet B. Liss

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Rabbi Dr. Janet B Liss, May 2024

On Sunday, May 5th we will commemorate Yom Shoah, Holocaust Memorial Day. This year feels like this day is more poignant than ever as we witness the virulent antisemitism in America today. I spent 5 years of my life in a Ph.D. program at Columbia University studying Hebrew Literature. As part of my work-study, while researching articles written in Hebrew in the 1920s-30s about American Jewry, I came across a poem written about Ivy League schools and their quota systems. The line that has always stuck in my brain was “and Columbia is for the Jews.” Columbia University has always had many Jewish students. There are 5000 now. I watched the police enter the campus last night and learned that they dismantled the tent city and removed everyone who had barricaded themselves in Hamilton Hall. As of today, we do not know how many were students versus outside agitators. News report after news report shows that demonstrators. when asked what they are demonstrating for, cannot answer basic questions about the conflict. While this is not true across the board, I am waiting to hear a voice of reason that says, “demand a ceasefire and RELEASE ALL OF THE HOSTAGES.” Israelis are demonstrating daily demanding that the hostages be released in exchange for anything. Unchecked antisemitism can have disastrous consequences and no Jew can afford to keep quiet today. This war was started by Hamas. Israel found documents that show that Hamas planned to overrun the entire country on October 7th. That is why on October 7th they shot over 3000 missiles into Israel.

I wish things were different in the world, but they are not. I’ve never believed in the concept of collective punishment and when I see the destruction in Gaza, it is overwhelming. When I keep learning more about what Hamas did on October 7th and what they did to the hostages who have been released, it is overwhelming. For my friends and family in Israel, I am so saddened by the burden they carry daily in their struggles just to make ends meet and live with the constant stress from being in their current situation. I also cannot imagine the terror of real hunger and being in fear for one’s life as the innocent people who live in the Gaza Strip.

I have a friend in Israel whose father, Josef Bau was on Schindler’s List and survived as a forger of documents. He was later in the Mossad (something her family learned at his funeral) and worked as a graphic artist and an artist. My friend Clila and her sister Hadassa run the Josef Bau Museum in Tel Aviv dedicated to their father’s memory. I had the honor of translating their mother’s autobiography into English. She too was on Schindler’s list and she and Josef got married in a concentration camp bunk which was featured for about one minute in the movie Schindler’s List. Clila told me that what happened in Israel was exactly what their father envisioned. He wrote that Hitler would come back and he painted this as well.

Hanukkah, Purim and Passover all remind us of our resilience against our enemies. Yom Hashoah reminds us how dark evil can be and what happens when the world is silent in the face of evil. I will not cower because I am Jewish. I will not stop supporting people and organizations who defend Israel’s right to exist. I can understand empathy for Gazans but I want the hostages to come home. I do not want Israel to be subject to continued missile launches or repeated terrorist attacks. I want Israel to live in peace with her neighbors and I want this conflict to end.

This is a time when Jewish communities need to come together to rally and support one another. It is not a time to dwell on differences and conflicts that separate us from one another. United we stand and we have strength in numbers. We can show this strength by standing together as one, even in Hickory, N.C.!

I will be back on Friday, May 10th. That evening in honor of Mother’s Day, we will be honoring all of the women in our congregation with a special blessing in front of the open ark. Please mark your calendars and join us for our celebration. It was suggested that in honor of the women, perhaps some of our gallant men would be willing to help set up the Oneg Shabbat and clean up after it! I am looking forward to seeing you.

Rabbi Dr. Janet B. Liss

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Rabbi Dr. Janet B Liss, April 2024

On Monday, April 22, we will usher in the celebration of Passover at sundown. Each one of us is commanded in the Haggadah to retell the story as if we were personally in Egypt. Memory and recounting our past yearly are what has kept Judaism alive for thousands of years. When we observe the Passover rituals and partake in eating bits of the Passover symbols, we simulate what it was like living as slaves in Egypt and experiencing the joy of liberation. While recounting and naming the plagues, we diminish our cups of joy by removing one drop from our wine cups, our symbol of joy, for each plague. Why do we do this?

We read in the Haggadah, according to the midrash, the rabbinic interpretation of the Torah: At the very hour that the Egyptians were drowning, the angels want to sing before God. God said to them: “My children are drowning in the sea, yet you would sing in My presence!” We know that Pharoah’s army who pursued the Israelites in the Sea of Reeds, drown when the waters closed around them. When Moses and the Israelites made it safely to dry land, they sang a song which is written in the Torah thanking God for protecting and saving them. According to the midrash, the angels tried to do the same. Their hearts too were filled with thanksgiving and they too yearned to express this joy in song to praise God.

God reminds the angels that the Egyptians were also God’s children. God asked the angels to feel empathy for their enemies which flies in the face of comprehension. If the angels had difficulty doing this, imagine how much harder it is for us as human beings. Later in the midrash, Rabbi Elazar conjectures that while God does not rejoice in the deaths of the wicked, that God did cause us to rejoice. God recognizes that we in fact are not divine and when we are hurt, there is a natural impulse to want retribution. This teaches us to hold ourselves to a higher standard. We Jews are here to be a light unto the nations.

Being human, created in the Divine Image is to struggle and to recognize the humanity in all of God’s creatures. As difficult as this is, we must strive to do so and to be better human beings by trying. If God feels the pain seeing the death of our enemies, we too must push ourselves to feel the pain of others, even when in fact they may be our enemies.

On Passover we celebrate being victorious over people who wished to destroy us. We celebrate our communal freedom won over and over again, against all odds throughout our marred history. This year we will also pray for those still held in captivity, because as I write this, in my heart I know that the hostage deal making will be pushed further and further down the road. In my heart I know that many people will lose their lives on both sides as this war rages on. Some will be our enemies. Some will be innocent bystanders caught by circumstances beyond their control. As God’s children, we will struggle and wrestle as we should.

In a synagogue in Sefat in Israel, there is a framed piece of matzah hanging on the wall. This matzah reminds us that we are eternally in Egypt and as Jews we will suffer and struggle in every generation. This year Passover reminds us that until all of the hostages come home, we are not truly free this year and the salt water that we dip our greenery and our hard-boiled eggs into represent the tears shed by all of us for the lives lost on October 7th, and all of the senseless deaths that have followed that horrific day in Jewish history. We look forward to having a real celebration when all of the hostages come home to Israel.

Rabbi Dr. Janet B. Liss

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Rabbi Dr. Janet B Liss, March 2024

On March 23rd we will be celebrating Purim and hopefully, you will be able to join us in the celebration. Purim is a classic Jewish holiday with a timeless message that certainly speaks to us today. It is the story of an enemy, Haman, who out of anger because Mordechai the Jew refused to bow down to him manipulated King Ahasuerus to order a mass killing of all the Jews in the Persian empire. Queen Esther who hid her Jewish identity from the king was summoned by her Uncle Mordechai to appeal to the king’s good graces and get the kill order rescinded. She risked her life by coming to the king without being summoned and by doing so saved the entire Jewish community.

While there is no historical proof that this story ever took place, the message of the story cannot be more appropriate for the times we are living in today. Jewish life worldwide is changing. Israel is fighting a battle without any end in sight. The world is calling for a ceasefire. The same world is not demanding that the hostages should be released. Jews in different parts of this country and worldwide are scared. As American Jews, we have never felt insecure about living openly as Jews.

On Purim, we are commanded to rejoice, to have fun and to drink. One is commanded to drink to the point that you cannot distinguish the blessing of Mordechai from the curse of Haman. While we will not promote drinking oneself into oblivion, we are planning a great evening on the 23rd for adults to have fun rejoicing together. We will have havdallah, a light meal, read the Megillah, the Book of Esther, play games and have a great time.

Because Esther chose to hide her identity (Esther literally means hidden), it is customary to wear costumes for Purim. We invite everyone to dress up in costume and join us for a meaningful and fun experience. We will have an adult Purim costume contest on Saturday and one on Sunday for the children as well. On Sunday the 24th, we will celebrate Purim with the children in our congregation with a Purim spiel, an abbreviated Megillah reading followed by a carnival and games. We welcome all participation to help make this a special experience for all of our members.

Our tradition teaches us that when the month of Adar comes, it increases joy. There is a long stretch between Hanukkah and Passover and Purim comes at the right moment to bring us joy and hope. These are two important things we can all use in this world today.

With joy and hope, I look forward to seeing you on the weekend of March 22nd. I can’t wait to see what costume you will wear. It’s okay just to dress as a member of Temple Beth Shalom if you are not the costume type!

Rabbi Dr. Janet B. Liss

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Rabbi Dr. Janet B Liss, February 2024

We landed in Ben Gurion and immediately felt the mood of the country in the airport. There is an amazing art installation of the metal ‘bring them home’ tags hanging where every incoming passenger will see it. Going down the hallway to passport control, the walkway is lined with pictures of the hostages. These pictures and signs in Hebrew of bring them home are everywhere. They are at bus stops, in windows on walls you can’t go far without seeing them. On the cab ride from the train station in Jerusalem we learned that 24 soldiers had been killed the night before in Gaza. We passed a road leading to the Prime Minister’s residence in Jerusalem that was blocked off to traffic because people had been demonstrating there 24/7 for the last few days demanding that he take action to bring the soldiers home.

Shabbat evening, January 26, Grace and I participated in a Tu B’shvat (the holiday of the birthday of the trees) seder at the home of a close friend where we are staying. Usually, this holiday is marked by picnics, tree plantings, and nature activities. Not this year. We took a beautiful 3-mile walk earlier in the day in the Tyelet Park overlooking Jerusalem and East Jerusalem. My friend asked me to think about the connection between the holiday and what is going on in Israel for our seder discussion. When we passed a beautiful carob tree we talked about the famous Talmudic story of Honi and the carob tree. As Honi was planting the tree, a passerby asked him why he was planting the tree knowing he would never see it give fruit since it takes 70 years. His response was like his ancestors before him who had planted these trees, he too was doing the same for future generations. Like Honi, the soldiers today are fighting to make sure that future generations of Israelis will continue to have a homeland while some of them will not have the luxury of living to see tomorrow. We celebrate the birthday of trees because for generations, others have planted them and we continue to plant them today. On our walk, we passed by olive trees that were hundreds of years old. If only they could talk and tell us what they have witnessed over the years.

Israel is fighting for survival. People we have spoken to, compare this period to that of the 48 war. In Jerusalem, restaurants and coffee shops are full. Life goes on but everyone is affected by this war. My rabbinic trip began in Tel Aviv on Sunday. We are a group of 40 Reform rabbis and a few spouses. I am happy to report that I have raised over $5000 to distribute during this trip. I look forward to being able to share stories from this experience with you during my next visit. We spent a few days before the trip catching up with old friends and family. I truly feel blessed to be here at this historic moment in Jewish history. Please pray for peace in Israel.

May Israel soon know peace, and may the hostages be brought back home where they belong.

Rabbi Dr. Janet B. Liss

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Rabbi Dr. Janet B Liss, January 2024

In January, we are introduced to Moses as we begin the reading of the Book of Exodus. The story of the Exodus is the continuation of the historical journey of the Jewish people. As we begin a new year, in a sense while we as Jews continue our journey into an unknown future, events occurring around us will become historical markers for us and the world. 2024 began with the Israeli Supreme Court striking down a law that deeply divided Israel and led to 100’s of thousands of people demonstrating to preserve Israel’s democracy. This action taken by the Supreme Court wipes out the potential for corruption and maintains the rule of law in Israel.

2024 is an election year in the United States and while we watched Israel from afar deal with their internal conflicts, the world will be closely watching what will happen here as we move towards the election in November.

It is with great sadness that Israel is still fighting her war for survival. While the world calls for ceasefires, I do not hear anyone calling on Gaza to stop sending rockets into Israel. No one is calling on Hezbollah to stop sending bombs from Lebanon into Israel.

At midnight on January 1st, many rockets were launched from Gaza into central Israel. While there is no apparent end in sight, the word is that Israel and Hamas are negotiating another ceasefire in exchange for the release of more hostages. We can only hope and pray that this will happen quickly.

Grace and I are flying to Israel on January 22nd. We will be joining a mission led by my rabbinic organization, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, to volunteer; join forces with my Israeli colleagues; meet with families directly affected by the situation; and learn what is happening on the ground. One of the criteria for going on this trip is that you must be able to run. I have been to Israel too many times to count and that has never before been a condition for going on any of my trips there. The reality is if the sirens go off, they need to know that all of us can move quickly in the number of seconds we have to get to a bomb shelter or a safe room. This is today’s reality and how sad is that? We have been asked to bring money to Israel to help our colleagues with the ongoing need to provide people with what they need. If anyone is interested in contributing to this please speak with me.

On a brighter note, I am so looking forward to Werner Cohn’s Bar Mitzvah which is happening on January 13th. He is an outstanding student and a pleasure to work with. Please join us for his Bar Mitzvah so that you too can experience what a lovely young man he is! Mazal tov to his parents Seth and Ashley and his grandparents who I know will be kvelling the entire weekend.

I hope you will join us over Shabbat for spiritual nourishment, learning, community, and good food! I wish all of us a healthy, safe, and fulfilling New Year!

Rabbi Dr. Janet B. Liss

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