As the weather slowly begins to warm up, Sisterhood is picking up momentum with new activities this spring.
We’ll meet for lunch at 1 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, at Delish Cafe, 8775 Wabash Ave. in Terre Haute. Members will share some good food and discuss activities and projects for 2022.
Let me know if you plan to attend so I can make reservations!
Walter Sommers lived with gratitude for the life he was given. When asked to look back on his 101 years, he beamed, “I have had a good time in life; it couldn’t have been better.”
He lived each day with optimism and purpose, with a strong sense of duty to bear witness to the history he experienced, and to pass this history forward to future generations.
Asked about his optimism, he would smile and say, “Life turns out better if you start each day seeing the glass half-full, not half-empty.” For 101 years, Walter chose optimism over pessimism, hope over fear.
He lived a long, full life, but to Walter’s family and friends, he didn’t live long enough.
Both Rosh Hashanah and secular New Year tradition call on us to make changes in our personal and collective behavior.
Our congregation has taken a step toward improvement by getting involved with Creation Care Partners, an Indiana interfaith organization dedicated to helping individuals and congregations ameliorate climate change.
United Hebrew Congregation will co-sponsor a virtual event at 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 23, as Rabbi Arthur Waskow, founder and director of The Shalom Center and a pioneer in eco-Judaism, will speak on “Confronting the Climate Crisis: Despair or Sacred Action?”
During the Jewish festival of Sukkot, a part of the Jewish High Holy Days, we read from the Book of Exodus where God instructs Moses to chisel new tablets upon which God will engrave the Ten Commandments.
As Moses takes the new tablets up to Mt. Sinai, God reveals His glory to Moses, proclaiming His 13 Attributes of Mercy:
“The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished…. (Exodus 34:6-7).”
The dilemma we face when interpreting this sacred text involves understanding a God of forgiveness, love and compassion and yet also punitive retribution for the guilty.