10-19-06

Now that the holidays are behind us, I want to say thank you to our wonderful community. Many of you have expressed your thanks to me for the holidays; now it’s my turn to thank you! I am grateful to the community for giving me the most amazing, spirited holiday experience. Beginning with the High Holidays, and culminating with Sukkot and Simchat Torah, it was truly a month filled with inspiration, joy, warmth, comradarie and Jewish pride & spirit. My spirits were uplifted countless times by people who came forward to share their thoughts or experiences in terms of how they were moved spiritually or have made meaningful resolutions for the New Year. I so appreciate hearing from people how they promise themselves to bring more Jewishness into their families, be it with kosher, Shabbat, tefillin, mikvah or otherwise.

The last day of the holidays, Simchat Torah morning, left the strongest impression on me. On that day we complete the reading of the entire Torah, finishing a cycle that began 12 months earlier, which is occasion for great joy and celebration. Traditionally, the largest supporter of the congregation is chosen to complete the Torah and be honored with the final “aliya”.

In our shul however, this prestigious aliya was given to three college age boys, Jonathan Neissani, Michael Freifeld and Ariel Malekan. Rather than going to the highest bidder, the congregation honored three young Jews who made a commitment to being donning their Tefillin every weekday. The three were accompanied by Reb Zelik Sander, our well-respected, senior member who attends our shul each morning and leads the services. To me, the scene of this Holocaust survivor standing there at the Torah surrounded by these three young college students, represented the power of our people; the continuation of the unbroken chain of our tradition continues, and will continue until Moshiach comes, speedily, and beyond.

Best wishes for a Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Shalom M. Paltiel