Weekly Torah Portion

Sometimes the weekly Torah portion strikingly reflects current events or personal journeys. Whether “coincidence” or not, it reminds us of the Torah’s timeless relevance and resonance, especially when it speaks to our individual lives.

This week will begin the fourth year of JOIN Journal newsletters, now marking over 150 consecutive weeks of staff thoughts on the weekly Torah portion and updates on exciting Jewish programming throughout Orlando. And this message will also mark my own final posting in this forum.

Just as the book of Devarim that we start reading this week begins Moshe Rabbeinu’s valedictory to the Jewish people, I too am soon saying farewell to the JOIN community.

My family and I have really enjoyed living in Orlando and getting to know so many of you in the community. We have been privileged to interact with many special people in social and educational contexts, many of which were also quite personal.

While we are still charting our next phase, we want to pause to thank all of you who studied with us, prayed with us, and enjoyed good times together. We also want to thank our colleagues at JOIN Orlando, especially Rabbi Gabi and Sarah Gittleson, whose investment in the Central Florida Jewish community is nothing short of extraordinary, yet whose personal demeanor is unflaggingly modest and magnanimous. We appreciate their trusting us to work in the new JOIN College Park presence and in many other projects.

This Sunday we will commemorate the saddest day of the Jewish calendar, Tisha B’Av. Though the bulk of the day’s prayers and activities surely lament many centuries of hardship and tragedy, tucked into the experience are also glimmers of hope for a better future, anticipations of a rebuilt Jerusalem. In fact, the Prophets teach that Tisha B’Av will one day be a time for celebration, a festival in its own right.

Over the last couple years we have seen such pain across the Jewish nation and especially in our homeland. But the greatest message of Judaism is that even if things may look and even feel bleak now, now is not the end of the story.

So too, communities at large and we as individual Jews should keep in mind that no matter where life takes us our work becoming better people and growing our commitment to our Creator through His Torah is an ongoing process that should never end as long as we live.

Even though we will no longer be together in the same way, I hope that my family and the remarkable members of the Orlando community we encountered will each continue likewise growing, and that we all see the rebuilding of the third Temple speedily in our days.