Rabbi's Messages

on Monday, 28 April 2014.

RABBI'S MESSAGE FOR MAY 2014

We are challenging ourselves as a congregation, and we need your help. Will you give an hour and a half of your life to make our world a better place? Read on for details.
Tikkun Olam – Repairing the World – is absolutely central to our values as Jews, and it always has been. In the book of Genesis, Abraham argues with God over the state of the world, saying “Should not the Judge of all the earth do justly?” He challenges God and humanity to create a fairer, freer, more just society.
One of our most important prayers – the Aleinu – is all about Tikkun Olam. It says “Shehu noteh shamayim – God spread out the heavens and established the earth,” and it reminds us that we are obligated L’takein Olam – to repair the world that God has made.
In modern times, Jews have been deeply involved in Tikkun Olam. Our rabbis marched in the Civil Rights movement. Our members rallied for Soviet Jewry. And wherever we live, our congregations create partnerships and programs within their communities designed to provide education, food, justice, and basic rights for all. This year alone, our Social Action Committee has been involved in “Out of the Cold”, our Grade 7 class has worked at the Vaughan Food Bank and led services at a Senior’s Centre, and Kol Ami members of all ages have donated food and money for the less fortunate.
Now it’s time to bring it all together. At our annual Mitzvah Day, on May 10, we will collectively engage the entire congregation in Social Action! This year, Mitzvah Day has moved to a Shabbat morning, which happens to also be the last day of Religious School. We begin with breakfast (8:45-9:15), and then we will break up into half a dozen hour-long projects designed to help others in our community - including sick children in hospitals, soldiers deployed on behalf of our country, hungry and homeless people. At 10:30, we resume our day with Shabbat services and Religious School.
This is a whole-congregation program. If you have a child in the Religious School, please join us for the first part of the morning. If you usually attend Torah Study, we ask that you come for Mitzvah Day. If you don’t usually come to shul on Shabbat morning, make an exception this week!
We look forward to seeing you on May 10, as together we work to make the world a better place.
L’shalom,
Rabbi Micah Streiffer