This Shabbat, we return to the Torah portion my daughter Jarah read at her Bat Mitzvah last year. Coming back to this moment of Biblical time, I am flooded with memories from that important memory in our family life. Grandparents, uncles, aunts, nieces and nephews, along with friends and community members gathered from far and wide to witness the occasion. Our beautiful synagogue sanctuary had acted as a container for the joy: a place where important life moments could occur.
For the past ten years, Congregation Shir Shalom has not only served as a house of worship for ordinary holidays and events, but for countless extraordinary ones as well. Hundreds of weddings, baby namings, B’nai MItzvah celebrations, anniversaries, and conversions have taken place on our Bima. These moments are imprinted on the fabric of the carpet and the aura of the room. They hang frozen in time on picture frames of families throughout our area, reminders of the importance of our space in the lives of our members. How many of you have had an important life occasion at Congregation Shir Shalom, either before or after our merger? How many of you can feel the presence of that event each time you walk into our building?
This Friday night, we celebrate all of those occasions? If you have had a simcha (a joyous occasion) at Congregation Shir Shalom we encourage you to come out and reconsecrate it. In doing so, you will be affirming what we have been trying to build as a community and have an opportunity to revisit those sacred memories once again. May our synagogue continue to be a container for countless more simchas for many decades to come.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Alex