Temple Beth El of Boca Raton

✡️ At Bingo Under the Branches, our Religious School families got the chance to shake the lulav and etrog in the sukkah with Rabbi Dan Levin, Rabbi Greg Weisman, Rabbi Laila Haas and Rabbi Ashira Boxman. With our rabbis as the Bingo Callers, families then played Bingo with dinner, and won some great prizes!

🍋On Day 2 of Sukkot, the Israeli Teen Delegation joined Rabbi Dan Levin, Rabbi Greg Weisman, Rabbi Laila Haas and Rabbi Ashira Boxman in teaching our Religious School students the history of our matriarchs and patriarchs and how to shake the lulav and etrog! Thank you to all who joined us for a festive morning in the sukkah.

As early as the 12th century, Jewish scholar Maimonides specified that both surgical and medication abortions are permissible methods of care. Judaism teaches that abortion is not only permitted, but REQUIRED when the life of the pregnant person is at risk. Bans on medication abortion are a direct threat to Jewish religious freedom.

On the 26th anniversary of the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, we affirm that medication abortion is safe, effective, and essential health care. We wrote postcards to the US Department of Health & Human Services with that message. And we are joining National Council of Jewish Women (National Council of Jewish Women) day of action to share that message. Every voice matters. Every action helps.

Protect access to medication abortion.

🍋Shabbat Message from Rabbi Ashira Boxman: “On Sukkot, we leave the comfort and security of our homes and step into the sukkah, a temporary and vulnerable dwelling place. In doing so, the sukkah inspires us to think about how we want to live our lives in this new year. For forty years, the Israelites wandered through the desert, living with tremendous uncertainty. They had no idea how much longer it would be until they reached the Promised Land. Would they arrive in a few days? A few months? A few years? The time for rest, relief, and renewal was unknown. Each day, they woke up not knowing exactly what the next day would bring.
Perhaps the sukkah gives us some insight into how they managed that uncertainty.
The sukkah reminds us of the temporary dwellings of our ancestors in the wilderness and of the “clouds of glory” that, according to our tradition, sheltered them with God’s presence. They did not have permanent structures surrounding them. They were exposed to the elements and vulnerable to whatever might come next. Yet in each moment, they had one another, they had God’s presence surrounding them, and they had the day that was right in front of them.
Our tradition takes this temporary dwelling place, a symbol of uncertainty, vulnerability, and an exhausting journey through the wilderness, and connects it with joy. Sukkot is z’man simchateinu, the season of our joy.
Choosing joy in the midst of uncertainty is itself an act of resilience. Sukkot teaches us that we do not have to wait until everything feels secure, settled, or certain before allowing ourselves to be joyful. Instead, it asks us to make a conscious choice to notice what is good even when we do not know what comes next.”

READ THE FULL MESSAGE on our blog: https://tbeboca.org/finding-joy-in-uncertainty-shabbat-message-by-rabbi-ashira-boxman/