This was a week of so many words.
Words that made you sob and words that lifted the spirit.
Some words were written some words were spoken.
Here are some words that made me smile.
These were words written on a note.
The owner of a plant nursery in one of the Kibbutzim that was so brutally attacked, destroyed and devastated, returned home after having escaped three weeks ago.
He fully expected to see rows upon rows of dead and dried out greenery in his greenhouse.
To his shock and delight the owner found a note leaning against one of the blooming shrubs.
“Sorry we broke into the nursery.
We had to water the plants.
Signed
The Chayalim (the soldiers)
Words of love coming from seemingly such an unlikely source, our warriors who go to war to protect us.
Let’s investigate more warriors who wield words.
Miriam Peretz, the Israel Prize winner, a mom who lost two sons in battle, is bringing words of comfort to those who are bereaved and grieving.
She often quotes from this week’s Torah portion which is called Chayei Sarah, the life of Sarah. In the beginning of the Portion Sarah passes away and we have a full narrative of Abraham’s grieving process.
He buys a burial place in a a sophisticated power play and he eulogizes Sarah.
But then the Torah tells us that Abraham rose up, got up, in the presence of his dead.
Miriam Peretz emphasizes again and again these words, “and he will rise”.
Because after the crying and the tragedy, Abraham knew he must get up and continue.
He is not paralyzed. He must use the grief to fuel his further mission in life.
The words”and he got up” are words of hope and inspiration.
In Kibbutz Bari which was hit so hard, the synagogue stands.
It survived the destruction.
The wonderful woman Rachel Fricker, who is it’s founder, was contacted by the soldiers stationed there.
They wanted to use the synagogue but it was locked.
She told them that the key was in her home but her home had been incinerated.
She gave them permission to break in.
Since then, the synagogue has been in constant use, 24/7, for prayer, Torah study and for gathering.
Rachel Fricker who survived the massacre, came back to Bari to participate in the writing of a Torah.
As she looked inside she noticed that the first word Breishit, in the beginning, has within in it the letters of her home, Bari.
She sees that word as a beacon of hope, that there will be new beginnings and light to dispel the darkness.
Breishit. The word that means In the Beginning.

Am Yisrael Chai!
That is the battle cry we hear over and over again.
The Jewish Nation Lives.
We believe it.
We live it.
We seem to be saying it often lately.
But sometimes it’s very hard to keep alive in these dark times.
Not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually.
How do we do it?
We have a teaching from the holy Chofetz Chaim, Rabbi Israel Meir Kagan. Chofetz Chaim is the appellation given to this 20th century leader of the Jewish people. He entitled his famous book Chofetz Chaim which means pursuer of life. Those words come from Psalms where King David teaches us that he who desires life should guard their tongue from speaking evil and do good.
Rabbi Kagan, The Chofetz Chaim who lived from 1838-1933 wrote
“Today, when the attribute of judgement is very strong (we are being judged harshly by Gd) and there are many challenges and maladies we cannot escape, it is important to be involved with Chessed (acts of loving kindness) as this will awaken Gd’s Chessed. Gd will say (so to speak), these people need loving kindness themselves, yet they are focusing on others and showering them with kindness instead of concentrating on their own needs.
We have been given a formula.
If we want Divine mercy we need to engage in acts of love and care.
This harks back to our Patriarch Abraham who is the personification of loving kindness.
This week’s Torah portion, VaYera begins with Abraham recuperating from the circumcision he has just undergone.
Despite the fact that he is in pain, and the heat of the day is at its peak, and he is even in the exalted position of conversing with Gd, Abraham sees wayfarers in the distance and is anxious to welcome them and tend to their needs.
The Torah which is sparing with words, spares none as it describes the quick pace and hands on involvement this nonagenarian extends on behalf of creating a magnificent meal for his guests.
Abraham was a wealthy man, he had servants at his beck and call.
Yet he did not want to delegate the opportunity to another, and miss a chance to do Chessed.
Abraham was dedicated to kindness to others and he wanted to do all that was necessary, himself!
The story of Abraham’s life is replete with this theme.
In fact it is the attribute of Chessed that Abraham is identified with and the attribute which he implants in his children.
One of the attributes of the Jewish People is that we do loving kindness.
Nowadays, getting through each day is challenging.
The stories of the barbarism wreaked against the Kibbutzim in the South of Israel are horrifying.
Antisemitism is everywhere.
And the backdrop of everything is the perpetual worry over the hostages.

In September 1970, several airplanes were hijacked by Palestinian terrorists and redirected to an airstrip in Jordan, where the passengers were held captives. While most of the non-Jewish passengers were released after a few days, all the Jewish passengers were separated and held for several weeks longer. The most famous hostage was Rabbi Yitzchak Hutner, one of the Sages of the generation.
Around the world, the Jewish people mobilized to work for their safe release and, of course, to pray for their safety and freedom. At one point during their captivity, after they had already been held for several days, Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz addressed a prayer gathering in Jerusalem where he delivered an address.
He focused on the story told in the Talmud of the scene that occurred at the burial of our Patriarch Jacob.
When the mourners arrived at M'aras Hamachpeilah, the burial site, Eisav, Jacob’s brother, came to intercept them, insisting that the last remaining plot in the cave -- which is where they were going to bury Jacob-- should in fact be his. They explained that Esav had sold the plot to Jacob, and when Esav demanded proof, Naftali, one of Jacob’s sons, returned to Egypt to retrieve the documentation.
As they waited for Naftali to return, Chushim, a grandson of Jacob, asked why they were not burying Jacob right away. Chushim was deaf and had not heard any of the conversation. When they explained what was happening, Chushim said, "And while Naftali goes back and forth to Egypt , should my grandfather lie in a state of indignity?" He took out a stick, struck Esav over the head and killed him, after which Jacob could be buried without incident.
Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz posed a question: why was it only Chushim who possessed such indignation at the delay in the holy Jacob’s burial? Why did nobody else feel and react the same way to the travesty of justice the evil Esau was promoting?
The answer, he explained, is that everyone had gotten used to the situation. They heard the discussion and participated in the back-and-forth. The state of affairs had developed slowly and the shock and instinctive objection to the mistreatment of Jacob had gradually worn off. But Chushim was hearing of it for the first time; his reaction was genuine and fresh. His sensitivity remained sharp, while everyone else's had dulled.
Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz then addressed his gathering: I sense, he said, that we have become like everyone else at Me'aras Hamachpeilah. A week ago, we were shocked by the news of the hostages. But now, we have become used to it. Now, somehow, I sense that our prayers are less urgent. We have come to accept the status quo. But we cannot, we dare not, become unfeeling. We have to be like Chushim; we need to keep our sense of urgency and outrage intact.
I do not think our own sadness, grief and confusion has dissipated much since we began to absorb what befell our people on October 7. And I do not think any of our sensitivity to the plight of our hostages and the danger to our soldiers and the risk to the country has yet dulled.
But while we hope for a miracles to happen tomorrow, it is also possible that difficult days still lay ahead, and they may stretch ahead of us for some time. And it is only natural that a part of us comes to accept this new reality; it is only natural that our prayers might become less urgent, our drive to grow and change might become less strong, our energy to help and volunteer and speak out and advocate might become less powerful. It is only human nature to get used to things on some level.

Tonight Jwcatlanta hosted our annual Challah Bake.
We were led by the inimitable Gitty Fredman of JustBakeIt, who uplifted the preparation of challah (and cinnamon buns) with her trademark upbeat attitude and spiritual teachings.
It might seem surprising that Jwcatlanta hosted a Challah bake in such uncertain times.
Our hearts go out to our brethren in Israel in this dark and tragic time of war.
Which is absolutely the reason to proceed with such an event.
First of all, the tone of the evening did pivot as we moved from celebration to introspection.
The program consisted of the preparation of Challah for Shabbat as we also included prayer and a focus on advocacy.
Jwcatlanta was fortunate to hear from Shaked Angel, the regional director of Israel American Alliance who shared the heroic efforts of his childhood friend whose bravery saved his Kibbutz 13 days ago. We were able to hear directly from the wife of this hero as she described via video, the harrowing hours she and her three children endured in their safe room while their father and husband was literally battling outside for their lives.
Then we heard from Moran Mizrachi who is involved in various advocacy projects including an organization that has printed the photos of each of the 199 kidnapped Israelis and is trying to get those pictures posted all over. This puts a name to the faces of our brothers and sisters, some of them very young children, who are being held captive in Gaza.
Our dear Shari Magnus hand crafted beautiful jewelry which was yours for the taking, if you committed to donating to charity of your choice to benefit Israel.
And the generous Rachel Goldschein donated Shabbat candles for us to light this Shabbat. A little bit of light can overcome a lot of darkness, and the spirit of Shabbat can enlighten and uplift us.
We separated Challah, separating a portion of the dough prior to shaping it, with a powerful prayer on all our lips.
It was also an evening of community and sisterhood, with so many commenting on how much they needed our special connection at this difficult time.
Bringing together 300 Jewish women to pray, study and create food that will nurture them body soul - that was the recipe for tonight.
It is so important for us women, to remember what our job is during these times.
Everyone is constantly asking
“What can we do?”

It’s the beginning.
We start the Torah anew.
And in the very first words we get a description of what is happening to us right now.
When Gd created the world it was “astonishingly empty, with darkness upon the surface of the deep”.
This week we have learned the most horrific definition of emptiness and darkness.
The black hole created by the bestial actions of our enemy is beyond comprehension.
Then “Gd said, Let there be light, and Gd saw the light was good”.
In these horrendous times when darkness would seem to prevail, there have been myriads of stories of light filled actions.
I want to share some with you because even a little bit of light can chase away a great deal of darkness.
Today was the funeral of Dekel Swissa. Those of you who attended the rally this week heard a little about him.
Dekel was an Atlanta Shinshin , a gap year student, (Shinshin stands for Shnat Sherut), who performed a year of community service here in Atlanta, before entering the Israeli army.
One of the families who hosted Dekel were my next door neighbors. Through their hospitality, we were truly privileged to get to know this exceptional young man. He was warm, friendly, kind, humble and wise beyond his years. I was looking forward to seeing the incredible mark Dekel was going to make on this world, but his life was tragically cut short at the age of 23.
He left us too young.
But a mark he did make.
He was the commander of his platoon, and his men (little boys of 19 or so who should not have to engage in life threatening gun battles) told Dekel’s parents that when the fighting began he ordered them into a safe room and took on the terrorists himself, killing dozens until he was overcome.
The soldiers told the parents that he saved all their lives.
A Rabbi who lost his son this week on the battlefield said something so profound.
His son was killed at 33, also much too young.
But his bravery also saved the lives of many, and the Rabbi realized that his son did not just achieve 33 years, rather he achieved eternity in the accumulation of all the years of the people and their descendants who will come forth from the lives he was able to save.
Dekel was only 23, but in his selfless actions he will live on for countless years to come.
He also left us his mantra
“Start every day with a smile”
And when we start our day with a smile, let us do so with this brave and kind young man in mind and honor Dekel’s memory.

Do you know what kreplach are?
You might think it’s a Jewish version of a wonton.
Basically it’s a piece of dough which is wrapped around a small portion of meat and served in the chicken soup.
My Father of blessed memory was famous amongst his friends and acquaintances as a great raconteur and story teller. Some of his stories were extremely moving, some of his jokes were quite funny, but for some reason, amongst his Eastern European friends, his kreplach joke was iconic.
Here it is, but it went over better in the original Yiddish.
A little boy was in fear of kreplach. Whenever he saw one he would shriek “kreplach” in fear and horror.
His mother decided to take matters in her own hands and with a mother’s intuition, and well before her time, she decided to employ exposure therapy.
She sat her son down and rolled out a circle of dough, it’s just a pancake right?
He agreed calmly.
Then she placed a small ball of meat in the middle of the pancake.
Just a mini meatball right?
Her son agreed with equanimity.
She folded the dough around the meat one side at a time with her son following along with interest, all was good.
But when the last side was folded up, the boy took one look and shrieked…kreplach!!
Like I said, the original Yiddish gives a different flavor.
Tonight and tomorrow is Hoshana Rabba, which means a time of great salvation.

I think I might have told you the story of Adonis.
He is a gentleman I met in Atlanta when he delivered some furniture. We spoke briefly when he finished the delivery and then he asked me where I had lived on the West Side.
I was literally flabbergasted. I asked how on earth he knew that I came from the West Side of Manhattan. He shared that he had previously been a beat cop in Manhattan and spent a great deal of time with the denizens. He met all kind of people and was able to discern the accents of those who were natives, it helped him recognize who was a resident.
Adonis was able to identify a West Sider just by an intonation.
Growing up on the West Side was an eye opening experience.
My family attended a synagogue there which was a magnet for Jews searching for their Jewish roots. The synagogue hosted a myriad of activities such as lectures and meals on Shabbat and holidays. There was also a concerted effort to bring Judaism to the streets of the West Side and make it accessible to any Jew who had interest in learning more about Jewish teachings.
One of my favorite activities as a young teen was joining a group of my friends on Sukkot to share the mitzva of Lulav and Etrog. We would literally stand near a mobile Sukka and offer passersby the opportunity to take the Lulav and Etrog. It was so fascinating to hear people’s reactions. Some were highly emotional, feeling a deep spiritual connection. Others waxed nostalgic, remembering taking the Lulav with beloved grandparents. A few were amused by the ritual and there were those who were deeply curious about the meaning of taking the four species and literally wanted to understand all the mystical aspects, while standing on one foot.
But all were united in their deep appreciation of having the opportunity to participate in this Mitzva.

What is the happiest day of the year?
We each may have a different answer to that question.
I’ll leave you to discuss and ruminate.
Our Sages teach us that Yom Kippur is the happiest day of the year.
I can imagine that is a surprising answer.
When we think about Yom Kippur we think about fasting, and being hungry. Perhaps the long hours sitting in a service are uncomfortable and maybe it’s hard to become inspired.
Doesn’t seem to be the happiest day at all.
But we are taught that if Yom Kippur only came once in 70 years, or once in a lifetime, we would be so joyous and appreciative of the opportunity to have the energy that we can access on that day.
And here we are blessed with Yom Kippur every year.
How do we access what is available to us on Yom Kippur?
The Talmud teaches us three principles:
If someone did you a small favor, regard it as something big.
If you did a little nothing nastiness to someone else, that should be considered in your eyes a large, egregious deed.
And finally, if someone did something really big and bad to you, perceive it as something small.
What message is being taught with these three principles?
What is a favor? It’s a Mitzva!
If we worry about our own needs - that’s physicality.
But if we worry about someone else’s, that’s spirituality, it’s eternity. We are concerned about taking care of another and that can have the most positive eternal impact.
So if someone does a nice thing to you, even if it seems small, thank the person profusely, they have stepped out of themselves and seen you!!
That’s huge.

The Day is upon us!
When you look at the Rosh Hashana liturgy you will see that phrase - The Day.
It’s the day we have the opportunity to return to the truest version of ourselves.
Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi, noted Torah teacher in Israel today, relates the story of going to visit women inmates at a prison facility. She prepared an uplifting talk, but as she addressed the inmates seated at a table around her, they all remained impassive. If body language could talk, their slumped posture and morose demeanor projected their total lack of interest. Rabbanit Yemima was beginning to despair when one of the women raised her hand. Rabbanit Yemima was so excited, thinking someone was interested and she had made a breakthrough. She called upon the woman and warmly asked what her question might be.
The prisoner asked her
“Can I try on your ring?”
The Rabbanit was wearing a beautiful gold ring.
The Rabbanit was taken aback by the question, but she quickly regained her composure and removed her ring and passed it to the women on her right. Rabbanit Yemima then witnessed an amazing sight. Before her eyes each prisoner who had just sat in a sullen and detached manner tried on the ring and stretched out her hand in the age old feminine motion of a woman trying on a ring. Before her eyes a metamorphosis took place. Instead of angry detached people, she saw before her a group of laughing, engaged and feminine women.
A ring had brought them back to their true selves.
So on Rosh Hashana we want to do actions that will connect us back to our own essence.
Rabbi Wolbe, Torah teacher of this past generation, teaches us that the way a person behaves on Rosh Hashana plants the seeds for the year ahead.
So the message for us is that on Rosh Hashana we want to return to who we really are, the sweetest version of ourselves, devoid of all that has clouded our essence. We do that by engaging in a physical activity that will remind us and help us achieve that goal.
One custom we have on Rosh Hashana eve is to dip an apple in honey and pray that we be blessed with a sweet new year.
If we want something which exemplifies the ultimate sweetness why don’t we dip the apple in sugar?
Candied apples would be all the rage?
We use honey because it has a preservative property.
If something non kosher falls into a kosher dish it will render it non kosher. But if something non kosher falls into honey, one may just remove that item and the honey remains kosher.
From this we can take a lesson for ourselves.
No matter what we have done this year, our true essence is untouched and we can just remove the impediment and focus on our strength and connection to the Almighty.
Because who we really are remains untainted.
The sound of the shofar awakens the feeling of connection to ourselves and to one another.
When we are present at the shofar blowing we need to have in hand, figuratively, some course correction we have accepted upon ourselves. Because if we have such a positive intention on Rosh Hashana, a Kabbala, which is explained as something we have accepted upon ourselves to improve, we show that we are taking a turn in the right direction.
A Kabbalah in modern Hebrew is also a receipt. It’s as if we are doing something which we can show for ourselves, a receipt so to speak of the change we are attempting to make.
We are heeding the call of the shofar and we are doing an action that will sow positive seeds for the future.
This is the Jewish version of a New Year Resolution. It is a very, very, very, very (you are understanding that it should be quite tiny) small but sustainable action.
That is the way to make the best use of The Day, to make a tiny but positive change.
It will be your “receipt” of efforts expended to help retrieve the best version of ourselves which remains pure and sweet as honey.
May we all be blessed with a Shana Tova UMetuka, a Sweet New Year, which is filled with an abundance of blessings, and many opportunities to be the blessing.
Shabbat Shalom and so much love.

An Elul Elucidation.
In Israel, in the town of Bnai Brak there was a man who had an interesting profession.
He was a car thief.
He stole cars for a living.
One evening he broke into a car and was manipulating the wires to ignite the engine and bring it to life so he could make off with the car.
As he was attempting to start the vehicle he was startled to hear a noise coming from the back seat. To his horror he saw a toddler strapped into a car seat.
It appeared the child had been accidentally left in the car.
The first thought the thief had was not about himself and how he might get caught and arrested.
His first thought was the immediate emergency to save the baby who was clearly in severe distress.
He gunned the engine and rushed the baby to the nearest emergency room.
The toddler was attended to immediately.
The doctor came out and told the thief that had he waited even five more minutes, his son wouldn’t have made it.
At that moment the thief snapped out of his reverie. He had to explain his way out if this mess so he wouldn’t be arrested for car theft. Or even worse - kidnapping.
He told the doctor that he saw the baby in the car and managed to break in, but he wasn’t even related. He offered to go to the car and check the registration.
After doing some detective work, how delicious the thief became the detective, he found the contact information of the car’s owner.
He called the number.
Of course the people on the other end were beside themselves with panic. They realized they had left the baby in the car (now there are many gadgets to ensure such a tragedy should never happen) and when they ran down to the car, it had disappeared.
They feared the worst.
The relief they exuded could be felt through the phone.
They raced down to the hospital and were overwhelmed in their gratitude to the thief, who they didn’t know was a thief, for saving their baby’s life.
They wanted to give him a monetary reward.
He refused to take the gift. He just wanted to get away from this bizarre scene.
The family refused to let him go so easily and insisted on inviting him for Shabbat.
The thief figured one Shabbat meal and he’d be done with it.
He didn’t realize that the family invited everyone they knew to introduce the Tzaddik, the righteous man, who had saved their son.
Feeling quite the imposter the thief accepted all the accolades, he did not know what else to do.
His hosts insisted he spend the night. They brought him to synagogue the next morning where they hosted a huge Kiddush in his honor, again praising the thief to the hilt.
The thief was ready to crawl out of his skin. Here he was being praised for his deed, but he knew he was really just a car thief.
After lunch the father of the child insisted on bringing the thief to his Rabbi for a well deserved blessing.
When they entered the Rabbi’s home, the thief asked for a moment alone with the Rabbi.
When they were by themselves the thief confessed the entire charade to the Rabbi.
He admitted that he had been in the process of stealing the car when he discovered the baby and he feels like such a charlatan.
He was no Tzaddik, no righteous person, he was a garden variety common thief.
The Rabbi immediately told the thief that he was indeed a Tzaddik, a righteous person. He explained his stance by saying that no matter how he, the Rabbi, had conducted himself, he had never merited saving a life.
So he reasoned that this thief must have done something special to accomplish this incredible merit.
The thief responded dubiously, he couldn’t think of a single good thing he had ever done.
But the Rabbi continued to prod him, there must be a merit that paved the way for saving a life.
After a bit of thought, the thief admitted that when he broke into a car, he would first rifle through the glove compartment and check the insurance. If the car owner had very basic insurance, just collision coverage, he wouldn’t steal the car. But if they had replacement insurance and would receive reimbursement, then he would steal that car.
Seems like a “small” reason to be given such a merit.