Shabbat Chukkat @ Bet David and greetings for Temple Israel
Please join us this weekend for services at Bet David
Friday 08 July – 18.00 Kabbalat Shabbat Service; No Youth Activities.
Saturday 09 July – 10.00 Shabbat Morning Service led by Gail Saul followed by a brachah; No Children’s Service; [both Rabbis at Temple Israel]
Please note, Kendyll is on vacation this week. Because of this, there will be no KID’s and YOUTH ACTIVITIES this Shabbat. Kendyll, have a great time!!!
Mazal Tov to Temple Israel
And David said: “Here shall be the house of God the Eternal and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel” (1 Chr. 22:1)
What is a Jewish community without a place of worship? A place to make God’s presence felt? King Solomon, David’s son and successor, built the first, magnificent Temple. It was destroyed by the Babylonians, rebuilt and destroyed by the Romans. But we Jews never stopped building our Temples. No longer worshipping at the one Temple in Jerusalem, we have constructed Temples in our own communities in every corner of the world. Our Temples serve three purposes: A Temple is a Beit Knesset – a house for community to gather and share joy as well as sadness. It is a Beit Tefilah – a house of worship where we connect to God and express our deepest held values. And it is a Beit Midrash – a house of study where we explore the texts and values of our tradition.
All this is Temple Israel. This building expresses the hope of its founders and all who followed them for a better, a messianic time in which Judaism and Jewish values contribute to a world in peace. Temple Israel, as the core place of Progressive Judaism in South Africa, has established a strong vision that Judaism, the pursuit of justice, and the involvement in the broader community are walking hand in hand. Envisioned by the Prophet Isaiah for the Temple in Jerusalem that God’s “house will be called a house of prayer for all nations” (Isiah 56.7), Temple Israel has never ceased to fulfil it until this day.
May this congregation be blessed to continue to be “our” Temple. Rabbi Adrian Michael Schell
Read more about last week’s Bar Mitzvah in our Newsletter: AdKan 08-09 July 2016 Chukkat