Clergy Blog

Dear Friends,

As you may have heard on numerous occasions, the highest mitzvah a person can do is to save another life. As the rabbis teach, whoever saves a single life, it is as though they have saved the whole world (Sanhedrin 37a). The preciousness of life—particularly the lives of those in our extended families and communities—weighs heavily on the Jewish people these weeks as we observe Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) and Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Day for Israel's fallen soldiers), all while the war in Gaza continues, hostages remain in captivity, and wildfires rage throughout central Israel.

While we may sometimes feel helpless in our efforts to save lives in Israel, let us remember that there is much we can do right here for our home community. Every day, we have the capacity to save lives. Many of us regularly give blood, which is greatly needed by health institutions all around us. Many of us are signed up as organ donors, ensuring that should tragedy strike, we can still grant the promise of life to another.

And, some very special people have served as living donors—most commonly giving a kidney or a part of their liver and continuing to lead perfectly normal lives afterward.

We have a member of our Temple B'nai Abraham community, Barbara Klein, who is in serious need of a kidney. If you or someone you know might consider giving this gift of life, please reach out. For more information, you can contact Renewal, a Brooklyn-based non-profit organization that serves as a comprehensive resource for kidney donors and recipients within the Jewish community. Let's activate our B'nai Abraham network to help Barbara and any other members of our extended family in need.

When we save a life, we save a world. Let's act now to make a difference!

Shabbat shalom, Dave

A few items of note:

• Thank you to all who made last night's Pulse Art Gallery event possible—we have so much talent in this community, and the evening was absolutely phenomenal, with more than 200 in attendance! Yeshar Koach!

• Join us tonight for Shabbat Services at 6:30 PM as we celebrate a special educational milestone with our 2nd and 3rd graders, who will participate in the service.

• Tomorrow morning at 10 AM, come for another Kehillah Minyan Shabbat morning service. Following services, we'll hear from our own Jane and Suzy Fischer over lunch—Jane has recently published If You Knew Suzy: Pushing Past the Boundaries of Never, a moving tale of Suzy's journey. Please register here for lunch (though if you didn't register and find yourself at B'nai Abraham in the morning, you're absolutely welcome). For bonus points, arrive at 9 AM to learn some Torah in the Prinz library.

• Spring Marketplace is happening May 6 and 7. Come shop and support Temple B’nai Abraham and our educational programs. We have so many great vendors, all of your favorites, and some fun new ones, too!

• Join us this coming Wednesday at 10 AM for the final Views and Schmooze of the year. The topic: Ask the Rabbi—what issues, topics, or questions facing the Jewish community would you like to discuss? Watch your inbox for the Zoom link.

• Don't forget to vote in the World Zionist Congress Elections!