Once again, we arrive at a moment of “in between.” We enter our Sukkah for one final time. We dance with the Torahs with great joy, and we mourn with great sorrow on the third commemoration of October 7th.

Tomorrow, the Cantor will chant the prayer for rain. At its conclusion, we read livracha vlo liklala, it should be for a blessing and not for a curse.

We have that option to choose so often in our lives. Over the last three years, we could have given up. Yet, synagogue membership is growing, Jewish learning is expanding, and deep conversations about Jewish peoplehood continue to emerge.

In this week ahead, the Sinai Temple community will both.

Tomorrow night, we will dance at the Niv Raviv (z’l) Simchat Torah Festival. Niv was murdered with her boyfriend Nirel in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. They were to be engaged on October 10th.

On Wednesday, October 8, we will be in conversation with released hostage Nili Margalit, a nurse at Soroka hospital who helped other hostages care for each other before her release. On the Shabbat of October 10, we will host a Shabbat of Commemoration, through story and song, affirming our connection to the people and land of Israel. Finally, on October 14, we will be in conversation with released hostage Shoshan Haran, who was kidnapped with her grandchildren.  

These are not a simple litany of synagogue events. Each one of these moments is part of Jewish history that we must learn and that we must tell.

Next Shabbat, we will begin the Torah again. As the words stay the same, our lives do not. May we continue to write our Torah of tomorrow as we remember the impact of the Torah of today.