A Good Deed for a Good Year — The rabbi’s challenge
On Yom Kippur, our Haftara is a passage from the book of Isaiah, which essentially says that God does not want us to fast, if our fasting is not sincere.
Instead, God through Isaiah teaches:
“No, this is the fast I desire; to unlock fetters of wickedness, and untie the cords of the yoke and to let the oppressed go free; to break off every yoke. It is to share your bread with the hungry and to take the wretched poor into your home; when you see the naked, to clothe them, and do not ignore your own flesh.” (58:6-7)
This year we ask all of our members to take the following challenge… donate the cost of the meals that you would have normally eaten, if the day had not been Yom Kippur.
Write out a check for that amount (to the order of “Kehilat Gesher”) or put the equivalent cash into a sealed envelope, labeled “rabbi’s challenge“. Bring it to our Kol Nidre service this Sunday evening where we will have a special collection box set up.
All of the money collected in this year’s appeal will be used by the rabbi to support two causes:
-Helping sister progressive and liberal Jewish communities in Ukraine, as they live under the daily challenges of war;
-Specific actions to help some of our most economically distressed members as they try to meet their most basic living needs.
Finally, I am looking for English speaking volunteers who can make a little time this year visiting an elderly person in a retirement home.
Make your fast meaningful and through it, someone else’s life a little bit better.
Gemar Hatimah Tovah, rav Tom