Story by Jessica Goldstein
The participants were happy to welcome the Sabbath and New Years Eve over Zoom. Rachel said the blessings over the candles and Mark blessed the challah and the grape juice.
The torah portion this week Vaera G-d tells Moses and Aaron to go to Pharoah and demand he free the Israelites. Pharoah refuses and G-d begins to unleash plagues on the Egyptians. After each plague Pharaoh pleads for it to end and promises he will free the Israelites. As soon as the plague ends, Pharaoh changes his mind, which brings on another plague. The portion ends with Pharoah promising to set the Israelites free if the plague of hail ends. The hail stops and once again, Pharoah changes his mind.
After learning about the weekly torah portion, everyone shifted to discussing the new year. Rachel shared that she hopes in 2022 everyone will be healthy. Rachel also spoke how much she loved being in her group home over the holidays. Stacy C. told everyone about a wonderful adventure she had with her housemates, riding The Polar Express Train located nearby in Whippany. Stacy N. shared that her nephew calls and sends her text messages often and how she loves their growing relationship.
Everyone really enjoyed watching parts of the PBS special that aired “Here’s the Story: Way to Connect”. It tells the story of the birth of virtual programming at the WAE Center and how it managed not just to bring our community together during the pandemic but make us stronger. Everyone talked about how wonderful it was to have a beautiful new building for JSDD and how the opening of the building made the year even more special.
To close the evening, everyone wished each other a very happy and HEALTHY New Year and all the very best for 2022!
If you missed the airing of “Here’s the Story: Way to Connect” you can watch it here https://www.njtvonline.org/programs/heres-the-story/heres-the-story-way-to-connect-dsg1ac/