This week’s parshah is parshat Korach.\u00a0\u00a0It recounts how a person named Korach gathered a group of people\u00a0against\u00a0Moshe and Aharon.\u00a0\u05d5\u05b7\u05d9\u05b4\u05bc\u05e7\u05b8\u05bc\u05d4\u05b2\u05dc\u05d5\u05bc \u05e2\u05b7\u05dc \u05de\u05b9\u05e9\u05b6\u05c1\u05d4 \u05d5\u05b0\u05e2\u05b7\u05dc \u05d0\u05b7\u05d4\u05b2\u05e8\u05b9\u05df\u00a0\u00a0the word\u00a0\u05d5\u05b7\u05d9\u05b4\u05bc\u05e7\u05b8\u05bc\u05d4\u05b2\u05dc\u05d5\u05bc\u05bc\u00a0means ‘make a community’.\u00a0\u00a0But the kind of community Korach and his gang wanted to make wasn’t a positive community; it was a community based on negativity;\u00a0\u00a0a community of people that formed because their hearts were motivated by jealousy, fear, and anger.<\/p>\n
For the past few months, the children in Grade One at Heschel have been learning about a different kind of community; the kind of positive community that we strive for; a community where God dwells. The children have been learning about the two kinds of ‘hearts’ that create this community:\u00a0\u00a0Chakham Lev, the “wise heart” and Nadiv Lev the “generous heart.”\u00a0\u00a0They learned that when we bring together our intelligence, skills and talent– our Chakham Lev with a willingness to contribute and care — our Nadiv Lev, we create a strong community.\u00a0\u00a0We create, just as the ancient Israelites did, a\u00a0\u05de\u05e9\u05db\u05df\u00a0– a dwelling place for God.\u00a0\u00a0The ancient Israelites contributed their talents of carpentry and weaving, creating a\u00a0 physical\u00a0\u05de\u05e9\u05db\u05df\u00a0—\u00a0a portable sanctuary where the People of\u00a0Israel\u00a0would gather to express gratitude or ask for forgiveness, and where God would communicate with Moses.\u00a0\u00a0They carried the\u00a0\u05de\u05e9\u05db\u05df\u00a0with them as they traveled through the desert to learn that a community can be built anywhere that people join a Chakham Lev with a Nadiv Lev– wisdom and talent, with care and generosity.<\/p>\n
Today, the\u00a0\u00a0Grade One students and their families and friends gathered together for the Grade One Kabbalat Hasiddur ceremony.\u00a0\u00a0Together we created our own,\u00a0\u00a0spiritual\u00a0\u05de\u05e9\u05db\u05df\u00a0right here — by contributing our voices, our minds, and our hearts in a community prayer, Tefillah Betzibur.\u00a0\u00a0We witnessed the Chokhmei Lev — the skills each of our students has learned to be able to read the Hebrew prayers; and were each a Nadiv Lev — a\u00a0\u00a0generous participant in our community prayer.\u00a0Together, by creating community, we created a\u00a0\u05de\u05e9\u05db\u05df, a dwelling place for God.<\/p>\n
Today, as our Grade One children received their personal Siddur, we wish them much mazal, and many opportunities to use this Siddur, along with their Chacham Lev and Nadiv Lev to help build a community where God dwells.<\/p>\n
Mazal Tov, and Shabbat Shalom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This week’s parshah is parshat Korach.\u00a0\u00a0It recounts how a person named Korach gathered a group of people\u00a0against\u00a0Moshe and Aharon.\u00a0\u05d5\u05b7\u05d9\u05b4\u05bc\u05e7\u05b8\u05bc\u05d4\u05b2\u05dc\u05d5\u05bc \u05e2\u05b7\u05dc \u05de\u05b9\u05e9\u05b6\u05c1\u05d4 \u05d5\u05b0\u05e2\u05b7\u05dc \u05d0\u05b7\u05d4\u05b2\u05e8\u05b9\u05df\u00a0\u00a0the word\u00a0\u05d5\u05b7\u05d9\u05b4\u05bc\u05e7\u05b8\u05bc\u05d4\u05b2\u05dc\u05d5\u05bc\u05bc\u00a0means ‘make a community’.\u00a0\u00a0But the kind of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":6202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n