Shalom L’Kulam!
I hope this finds you all well. First and foremost, I would like to thank Terry Fear, Walter Sommers and Jan Cockerel of Westminster Village for helping put together a truly memorable Veterans Day Shabbat service which saw more than 100 people in attendance.
I would next like to thank Patty Lewis and the rest of Sisterhood for doing a wonderful job in collecting clothing and other essential items for Terre Haute’s less fortunate residents and for running the shul’s Hanukkah gift shop. Finally, I would like to thank Ken Turetzky for doing an incredible job in creating and running the synagogue’s website, Facebook page and Twitter account. Please check them out.
After an exceptionally long, drawn out, brutal and divisive election cycle, I am sadly reminded that throughout history there have been numerous examples in which the Jewish people have become so disconnected and so disrespectful toward one another that it led to division and even bloody conflict.
The excommunication of the Chasidim by the Mitnagdim under the Vilna Ga’on, the burning of the Rambam’s Mishne Torah, the murder of students of the School of Hillel by the Zealots and students of the School Shammai, the civil war between Israel and Judah and the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and Jonathan the High Priest all painfully illustrate this.
Even the story of Hanukkah began as a civil war between religious Jew versus Hellenized Jew! As such, we must always be respectful and kind to those with whom we disagree. To not demonstrate these basic values (middot) is to invite ruin and to destroy the basic tenets upon which we call ourselves Americans and Jews.
I hope you and your families have a very happy and healthy holiday season and I look forward to seeing you December 9.
Kol Tuv,
Aaron
Student Rabbi Aaron Rozovsky will serve UHC Terre Haute throughout the 2016-17 academic year.