Shabbat Gathering: The blessing of connection.

Gud Shabbos Khaveyrim, as is our custom, we will gather tonight at 5.45p ct to welcome Shabbat. These are the coordinates:

Zoom    
Meeting ID: 883 8469 4181   
Password: 822665  
Phone: +1 312 626 6799  

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Here we go.

This week I received an envelope from the synagogue and I thought it might be a tax statement for a donation I made during the High Holy Days. I was wrong. It was the notice of my mother’s yahrzeit. The letter came as a surprise. I wasn’t expecting it in October. She died on December 2, my birthday, but when she died I elected to remember her yahrzeit according to the Jewish calendar rather than the secular calendar. This year, that means observing the date in November. Receiving the notice from the synagogue made me think about how much the synagogue supported me while I was in Arkansas for a few years taking care of her. I’ve been well and truly blessed by Congregation Shaarei Shamayim.

My mother started showing clear signs she couldn’t take care of herself just after Covid shut down the nation. I had to do something so I moved down to Arkansas to take care of her. During Covid, the synagogue decided to support our congregation by adding Zoom as a way to keep on participating and added a new service to it’s calendar: our Shabbat Gathering service on Friday nights. 

Not isolated after all.

Between Covid, not being able to leave my mother alone, and being deep in the woods of the Ozarks, I was well and truly isolated. I was cut off from my community except for the synagogue’s online services. Those services were a lifeline for me.  I attended services, Torah Study, and, of course, the Friday Night Shabbat Gathering. Rabbi Laurie even connected me with a study partner and we met weekly on the phone. We still do except now it’s face-to-face. 

The Friday Night Shabbat Gathering is still going strong. We welcome Shabbat and catch up with each other’s lives. We talk about gardening, cooking, our health, world events, … just about anything that touches us during the week. And we welcome Shabbat. We take turns singing our prayers that welcome Shekinah into our midst. We give thanks for the blessings Hashem has given us. We humbly ask for blessings for those who are ailing. We send blessings to the healthcare workers who take care of us. We remember those who have passed on. We pray for the country. And we ask for blessings for ourselves. We have a simple service but it reminds us that the work week is done and it’s time to turn ourselves over to Shabbat. 

Friday Night Shabbat Gathering is a group of people who have especially blessed me with their support and for that I’m deeply grateful. Thank you very much.

And may it be for all of us a blessing. 

See you tonight!
Mit vareme grusn,
(With warm regards,)

All my love,
brian.

PS

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