Story by Jessica Goldstein
Our Shabbat celebration began this week with Rachel chanting the blessing over the candles. Mark led the blessing over the grape juice and the challah.
We continued to learn about Tu B’shevat, the birthday of the trees and how it is celebrated in Israel. We also talked about Martin Luther King, Jr. and listened to his inspiring, “I Have a Dream” speech on YouTube. Stacy reminded everyone that the Jews must remember the Holocaust and also that we were slaves in Egypt.
The torah portion this week, Beshalach starts with G-d telling Moses to have the Israelites camp at the Sea of Reeds. Once again, Pharoah changes his mind about giving the Israelites their freedom and sends his army to chase Moses and the Israelites.
G-d tells Moses to continue their journey towards freedom and that he will make sure they are safe. As the Egyptian Army gets closer, G-d splits the Red Sea. Moses leads the Israelites through unscathed. When the Egyptians get closer, G-d closes the waters drowning the Egyptians. Miriam leads the women in song and dance. As the journey to freedom continues, the Israelites begin to complain about the difficulties of life in the dessert. G-d tells Moses that he will protect and provide but the Israelites, must trust in G-d. Once they do, G-d provided quail and manna.
As the evening came to a close, Rachel shared that she is really enjoying spending time together on Zoom with Hannah. Hearing that, Hannah expressed how happy she was as well. The sentiments were shared all around that though we still cannot all gather; this tradition of Shabbat via Zoom has strengthened friendships and is a high point of the week.
Shabbat Shalom!
