Friday services and special slichot services

Dear congregants and Friends,

We would like to wish you all a Shabbat shalom. We hope to see you tonight at 7pm as we welcome in Shabbat.

Tomorrow, Saturday 20th, at 7:00 pm,please join us for a High Holiday class presented by Rabbi Gisser of Fort Hood Texas about the high Holidays which are fast approaching. This will be followed by wonderful evening services and Slichot, Havdallah and even a little nosh!  Absolutely a wonderful evening, so we very much hope to see you!

This week we read a double parshah-Nitzavim/Vayelech.  We are now coming to the end of Moses’ great oration at the end of the Torah, his farewell address to the People of Israel.  One of the interesting quotes from Parshat Nitzavim comes near the beginning-“the hidden things belong to the Lord our God, and the revealed things belong to us and our children forever….”(Deut. 29:28). The most obvious reading of this verse is of course that there are things which only God, the omniscient Creator, can know, while there are other levels of understanding available to humanity.  However, another interpretation is topical for this time of year, before the High Holidays.  There are things that we have done, or failed to do, that are “hidden” from us-we are either unaware that we did something, having overlooked it, or we have honestly forgotten.  God, however, is aware of all our deeds even when we are not.  The things of which we aware, of course, are ours-our responsibility.  In our prayers of penitence, we asked forgiveness for all of our misdeeds, whether committed knowingly or unknowingly. May we in this season of self-reflection be mindful as much as possible of our actions, and may we be mindful of the fact that our mindfulness is limited.  And may we all be granted a clean slate for a good and sweet New Year.  Shabbat Shalom.