Shabbat Shalom, Beth Torah!
Saturday | 9:30 a.m.
We are delighted to be open and holding Shabbat morning services onsite. Please join us, no registration is necessary.
Those unable to attend in person are invited to join us online for our livestreamed services.
Shabbat Info
Friday, March 28| Adar 28, 5785
7:22 p.m. Light Shabbat candles
Saturday, March 29 | Adar 29, 5785
9:30 a.m. Shabbat Morning Service
8:24 p.m. Shabbat ends
Parshat – Pekudei
Torah Reading
Exodus 38:21 – 40:38
Parshat Pekudei Insights
הַחֹ֧דֶשׁ הַזֶּ֛ה לָכֶ֖ם רֹ֣אשׁ חֳדָשִׁ֑ים רִאשׁ֥וֹן הוּא֙ לָכֶ֔ם לְחׇדְשֵׁ֖י הַשָּׁנָֽה׃
This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months; the first of the months of the year for you. (Shemot 12:2)
Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 1:1 teaches, “There are four new years… The first of Nisan for kings… and festivals… The first of Elul for tithing animals. Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Shimon say the first of Tishrei… The first of Tishrei for years, shmittah and jubilee, for planting and vegetables… The first of Shevat for trees; these are the words of Beit Shammai. Beit Hillel says the fifteenth.” In order to tithe, we need to know the parameters. For animals, the fiscal year begins in Elul; for vegetables we count from Tishrei. For fruit [trees] the start is Tu B’Shevat. We mark our years from Tishrei and Rosh Hashanah. Monarchs have a ceremonial date of the first of Nisan. We also mark our holidays from this point.
This is our chronological and theological path. Redemption at Pesach, followed by receiving the Torah, then our wandering in the wilderness. Each Pesach we begin anew, a re-enactment of our redemption. As the Torah commands, “And you shall tell your child on that day, saying, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.’” We do this through the seder’s ritual foods, the dairy of Shavuot, teaching the story of Pesach in the first person, “what God did for ME,” eating unleavened travel provisions and bitter herbs. Some put matzah on their backs as if starting a journey or hit each other with scallions or leeks to represent the lashes of our taskmasters. At Shavuot, we study the gift of Torah all night; At Sukkot, we leave the comfort of our homes to expose ourselves to the elements like our ancestors in the wilderness.
Each year we begin again. Not only at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, looking inside and reimagining our individual selves, but in the spring as a people, reconnecting to and sharing the experience with our community.
Shabbat shalom.
Rav Jen
Weekly Yahrzeit Listings
Week of March 29th Yahrzeit Listings
Mildred Stenzler, mother of Mark Stenzler, March 29, 2025
Dora Gruvick, grandmother of Shirley Korenblum and Dianne Yanofsky, March 29, 2025
Gertrude Engelberg, mother of Stan Engelberg, grandmother of Daniel Engelberg, March 29, 2025
Anne Turk, sister-in-law of Alina, Harry and Pnina Turk and aunt of Stephen Turk, March 29, 2025
Isaac Holland, grandfather of Jonah Turk, March 29, 2025
Pearl Shulman, mother of Ken Shulman, mother-in-law of Rhona Shulman, March 29, 2025
Marlene Burk, mother of Shawn Burk, mother-in-law of Lisa Burke, March 30, 2025
Mordechai Erlichman, father of Sarah Erlichman, March 30, 2025
Morris Leweberg, brother-in-law of Pnina and Harry Turk, March 30, 2025
Marcia Kleiman, sister-in-law of Linda Marquette-Kleiman, March 30, 2025
Israel Geller, grandfather of Barry Presement, March 31, 2025
Lionel Larry, father of Jeff Larry, father-in-law of Danielle Goldblatt, March 31, 2025
Avraham Werblunsky, brother of Helen Yermus, April 1, 2025
Zev Barenholtz, grandfather of Brian and Ellen Feldman and Bonita Josse, April 1, 2025
Robyn Albert, sister of Jonathan Strauss and Marci Pearlman, sister-in-law of Shawna-Gay Ellis Strauss and Mark Pearlman, April 1, 2025
Max Rubenstein, father of Rosalee Naster, grandfather of Mark and Ira Tytel, April 2, 2025
Jack Swan, father of Evy Strasberg, father-in-law of Zeno Strasberg, April 2, 2025
Alisa (Alla) Bytensky, mother of Boris Bytensky, mother-in-law of Anna-Rachel Tenhouse, April 2, 2025
Anne Cooper, mother of Sheldon Cooper, mother-in-law of Marlene Cooper, April 3, 2025
Max Lipson, father of Helen Lipson-Fox, April 3, 2025
Karen Dawn Norwich, mother of Jacqueline Goldberg, mother-in-law of Dan Cohen, April 4, 2025
Betty Baranek, mother of Marlene and Leonard Baranek, mother-in-law of Ita Kleiner Baranek, April 4, 2025
Samuel Rosenbluth, father of Iris Rosenbluth, father-in-law of Mark Krantzberg, April 4, 2025