Parshat Emor\u00a0recounts the cycle of biblical Jewish Holidays:\u00a0\u00a0Pesach, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret.\u00a0Details about the timing of the chaggim teaches us the middah:\u00a0“Pay attention to special times.”\u00a0\u00a0Noticing special moments and times is a key practice of Jewish consciousness.\u00a0\u00a0Our calendar with its cycle of chaggim, roshei chodesh and\u00a0shabbatot, that start and finish at times that shift according to the seasons, reminds us always to be attentive to the uniqueness of each moment.\u00a0\u00a0In the daily morning tefillah service we are reminded that unique events occur<\/p>\n
“\u05d1\u05db\u05dc \u05e2\u05ea \u05d5\u05d1\u05db\u05dc \u05e9\u05e2\u05d4,”\u00a0\u00a0“\u05e2\u05e8\u05d1 \u05d5\u05d1\u05d5\u05e7\u05e8 \u05d5\u05e6\u05d4\u05e8\u05d9\u05dd”<\/p>\n
“at every moment and time, evening, morning, and\u00a0noon.”<\/p>\n
We simply need to pay attention to them.<\/p>\n
Right now, we are in the midst of another special time:\u00a0Sefirat Ha’omer — the counting of days between Pesach,\u00a0our celebration of freedom, and Shavuot, our celebration of receiving the Torah.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This week we held our school celebration of Lag Ba’Omer — the 33rd day of Sefirat Ha’Omer.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Lag Ba’Omer is a special time during which we commemorate the commitment of the Jewish people to learning even when the study of Torah was banned by the Romans.\u00a0\u00a0According to rabbinic tradition, Jews found a way to disguise the study of Torah by pretending to play Roman style sports and games.\u00a0\u00a0To commemorate this strategy, our student council sports committee designed fun and engaging field games for the whole school.\u00a0\u00a0Each game included some learning about the events and heroes of Lag Ba’Omer.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We celebrated this special time traditionally by sitting around a bonfire, singing songs, and eating roasted potatoes.<\/p>\n
This Shabbat, may we find ways to pay attention to special and unique quality moments and times.\u00a0\u00a0I look forward to seeing\u00a0on Sunday\u00a0at Mitzvah Day.<\/p>\n
Shabbat Shalom,<\/p>\n
Moreh Greg<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Parshat Emor\u00a0recounts the cycle of biblical Jewish Holidays:\u00a0\u00a0Pesach, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret.\u00a0Details about the timing of the chaggim teaches us the middah:\u00a0“Pay attention to special …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":6202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n