Embraced, touched, soothed, and counseled
These are the words of one of the readings included in our prayer book. For Abigail, Jonah, Cheryl and me, this reading came to life for us this weekend in an extremely powerful way.
Ours are the arms, the fingers, the voices
The countless arms that embraced us as we celebrated Abigail becoming a bat mitzvah. The guiding fingers of Cantor Debbie and Abigail’s tutor, Amy Freund, directing Abigail to the words she would chant in the Torah. The 700 voices that joined us in song on Shabbat morning.
Ours are the hands the eyes, the smiles
The hands of people who stayed late on Friday night to help us set for Saturday morning or took the time to make something special for our daughter or wrote us beautiful messages to let us know that they were thinking of us. The joyful eyes of members of our community who watched, with so much love, as we took to the bimah as the bat mitzvah family. The beautiful smiles on your faces as you shared in our joy. All of these things and more, reminded us that:
We are loved by an unending love.
This past weekend, each of you, in your own way, reminded us that God can be experienced in the holiness of community.
Blessed are you God, who loves your people of Israel
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for the love you have shown us.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbis Andrew and Cheryl, Abigail and Jonah
