1950 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON, M5P 3K9
(416) 789-3291
[email protected]
Emergency Funeral Contact
Cell: 416-565-7561
As I was building a shack in my back yard this past week, someone nearby commented on how it looked pretty secure – except that the holes in the roof could be a slight problem for the rain.
Now that it is raining – I have to agree.
One of the most frightening things for a homeowner is when water seeps through and takes unexpected paths deep into the home. In our protected bubbles we secure ourselves in, we control every element so that beauty and comfort are supreme.
And yet – once a year we step into the holey, outside of the climate control, and experience the transcendent art of nature.
Every year I find poetry in this transition from stability to ramshackle. But this year I see the reverse – that in the uncontrolled, there is now standing an imperfect structure in my yard.
Enclosing what was once a walking path, is now structure. The walls break the passing wind and provide definition where there was none before.
Something is now standing there – with water soaking the paper chains, pouring through the holy roof.
This moment for me is about celebrating those boundaries which make our lives special – both physical but also in time.
For my family- the first Tot Shabbat of the year is arriving – and the boxed-out space of Shabbat will regain a bit more of its definition. For others, Saturday morning attendance at Holy Blossom is returning to their routine, giving more form to their social and communal Jewish lives.
Yizkor and Shemini Atzeret are around the corner, and making this time sacred will help delineate. We are still far from perfection, the full schedules and energy which flowed through our Jewish lives. We aren’t secure yet – but at least the boundaries are taking shape as life returns.
Moadim L’Simcha.
Dear Holy Blossom Temple Community,
The year 5781 is coming to conclusion. Baruch HaShem!
Soon we can close the doors to a year of challenge and fear, uncertainty and loss.
Soon we can turn the page on a year of discovery and lessons learned the hard way. We open the Book of Life to a new page, a new chapter, which we will fill with deeds of courage and deeds of love.
As we prepare ourselves and our homes to greet the new year, take a moment to acknowledge all we have endured and to acknowledge all we have received.
Before you rise to light your Rosh HaShannah candles, you may wish to offer your own words of reflection to name the moment when one year gives way to the next. You may wish to offer up this prayer-poem, from “Wildly Unimaginable Blessings” by Alden Solovy.
Let us dream
Wildly unimaginable blessings …
Blessings so unexpected,
Blessings so beyond our hopes for this world,
Blessings so unbelievable in this era,
That their very existence
Uplifts our vision of creation,
Our relationships with one other,
And our yearning for life itself.
Let us dream
Wildly unimaginable blessings …
For a complete healing of mind, body, and spirit,
For a complete healing for all,
For the end of suffering and strife,
For the end of plague and disease,
When kindness flows from a river of love,
When goodness flows from a river of grace,
When God’s light,
Is seen by everyone.
Let us pray —
With all our hearts —
For wildly unimaginable blessings,
So that God will hear the call of the shofar, open the Gates of the Garden,
and see that we haven’t waited,
That we’ve already begun to repair the world.
Let this be our testimony of faith in life,
Of faith in one another,
Of faith in the Holy One,
Blessed be God’s Name.
L’Shanah Tovah.
May it be a year of good health and restoration for us all.
Rabbi Yael Splansky
1950 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON, M5P 3K9
(416) 789-3291
[email protected]
Emergency Funeral Contact
Cell: 416-565-7561