Weekly Newsletters and Special Announcements

March 12, 2021 | 28 Adar 5781 

Parashat Vayakheil-Pekudei | Shabbat HaHodesh

RABBI TILCHIN'S MESSAGE

This weekend – March 13 and 14 – The Jewish Collaborative and partner organizations from throughout the US and Canada are hosting

"Stepping into Liberation,” a 26-hour retreat for people on a path to recovery from addiction, loss and life’s challenges.  It is open to everyone and we hope you will join us for the sessions that resonate with you. View the schedule here.  Register here.  

Twice in the Jewish calendar year – Passover in the first month and the High Holy Days in the seventh month - we are invited through prayer and practice to open our hearts and minds, take stock of our actions, explore how our unchecked behaviors impact those we love, and what might be holding us back from accessing our holy potential to be an even brighter light for others.  We are given a full month prior to both peak experiences – from Purim to Passover and the entire month of Elul leading up to Rosh Hashanah – to enter into this focused work with extreme intention. When we “rid our homes of hametz” for Pesah, it is a physical act meant to ignite the personal work we must commit to in purging the hubris, resentments, and emotional injuries preventing us from moving forward toward greater self-enlightenment. Passover itself is but the portal. The real work lies in the months that follow.  
 
In their infinite wisdom, our Sages, of blessed memory, understood that the process of healing ourselves and our relationships must work in stages. Six months after Passover, we find ourselves in Elul, with special liturgical and ritual guideposts added to help us reset our intentions and build on a process already in motion. One might discern that the cleansing we do in the spring centers around our personal journey to freedom that is essential in order for us to forgive and be forgiven by others (and God) in the fall.  We engage in this cyclical process every year, because, as humans, we are always incurring new wounds that require us to redefine what our liberation will need to look like in the year to come.  
 
Beit T’Shuvah founders, Harriet Rossetto and Rabbi Mark Borovitz, champion the idea that all human beings have inclinations toward good and evil, and it is the process of integrating our dark and light sides that is critical to living a life of wholeness and integrity. Looking at addiction – both its roots and consequences – can help us examine the existential, emotional and spiritual challenges facing all people and enhance our capacity to find meaning, connection and healing. 
 
Rabbi Mark and Harriet will be presenting at this retreat, along with  Rabba Yaffa Epstein, Rabbi Ilan Glazer, Sheldon Feddy (Jason’s brother) and other innovative leaders in recovery work from throughout North America. Jason Feddy will be giving a post Havdalah concert on Saturday night. “Escape Room,” Beit T’Shuvah’s new musical work created during the Pandemic, will be presented on Sunday at 1:15pm followed by a discussion with the artistic team. Please register to gain access to the events that interest you. 
 
PASSOVER WITH THE JEWISH COLLABORATIVE
Nisan, the first month on the Jewish calendar aaccording to Exodus Chapter 12, begins tomorrow night after Shabbat, and the first seder falls exactly two weeks later. JCoOC will be hosting a Zoom seder on Saturday night, March 27, and all are welcome at our virtual table! Read more and register here.
 
As we enter these final two weeks before Z’man Heiruteinu – this time of our liberation - I wish all of us the strength to pack lightly as we make our way to the “waters” that will be our portals to freedom. The famous midrash (Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael 14:22) highlighting the courage of  Nahshon ben Aminadav, warns that the path to freedom becomes apparent only after we take the first leap of faith and step into the scary waters of self-discovery. 
 
Shabbat Shalom and Hodesh Tov, 
Rabbi Marcia Tilchin 

The Jewish Collaborative of Orange County is a creative, collaborative, and compassionate community dedicated to innovating and supporting local and national programming that enriches the landscape of Jewish life and encourages individuals, couples and families to connect their passions and purpose with Judaism.