Sunday, September 17th was a spectacular day at
Temple Israel Religious School! We sang,
and we identified and heard the three distinctive shofar blasts (Tekiah, one long blast; Shevarim,
3 shorter blasts; and Truah: 9 short bursts of sound).
Some say that the Tekiah
is the sound of triumph and joy while the Shevarim
and Truah are sounds of pain
suffering. We wondered about why we hear both sounds of joy and of sorrow at Rosh
Hashanah? The Ben Ish explained this
curiosity with a story:
A
man had a ring specially made for him. Upon this ring, he had engraved the
words, “This too shall pass.” If he was
troubled and in pain, he would look at his ring and remember that the suffering
would eventually end. This thought comforted him. During times of happiness and
comfort, he would gaze at the ring as well.
He would realize that his wealth and good fortune could change for the
worst in an instant. Good times are not
forever. He would recognize that there
was no reason to become conceited and haughty over circumstances, which were
beyond his control and could turn adverse without any warning. This ring reminded the man that all in his
life had to be put in perspective and that one should life his life neither
complacent nor despondent.
We practiced a special blessing
asking God to renew us for a good and sweet new year and ate apples and honey.
We met Bar Argaman, our special
guest from Israel, and Rabbi Liben and
Cantor Ken gave us a refresher tutorial on wrapping tefillin.
I look forward to celebrating with
you at Temple Israel on Rosh Hashanah and Shabbat.
Our Temple Israel Religious School community will come together at
10:30 Sunday morning, September 24 at Lake Chochituate for our Tashlich experience.
Best wishes for a good and very
sweet new year—Shannah Tovah u-Metukah!
HaMorah
Margalit (aka Gretchen Marks Brandt)
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