This week’s Parsha, Behaalotcha (say that ten times quickly!), speaks a lot about the roles of the Levites. Growing up, I was always taught to be proud of my personal family heritage as a Levite. I attended a synagogue where on certain holidays, the Levites of the congregation would go out and wash the hands of the Kohanim before they gave the congregation their Priestly Benediction blessings. While I know we do not have that ritual as Reform Jews, I cannot help but reflect on what that meant to me as a child, performing this ritual with my father. There are certain memories of our childhood that stay with us forever, and I am so blessed that many of those for me are memories from being in the synagogue and participating in Jewish rituals.
I am writing this article at a time when my son Henry is turning ten months old this week. Every day I marvel at the new things that he is achieving. In just a short span of the past 1-2 months he is now able to say da-da and mama, he has an army crawl that is possibly faster than some who are in the military and every day he grows taller and taller. One of the first memories that we have with Henry is at his Brit Milah in the chapel at Temple Jeremiah. I know that as he grows older and older, we will have so many more moments with this amazing community that will stay with Henry forever.
As we enter the summer season, many of our students will be going off to camps and making lifelong memories and friendships. As you are enjoying the summer moments, take the time to create more memories with Temple Jeremiah. We have tons of summer opportunities to be with us that are appropriate for all ages. If you have not participated in any of our summer opportunities in the past, I put the challenge out to you to create some life-long memories this year!
I want to wish everyone an amazing week and an amazing summer, stop by and say hello anytime!
Shabbat Shalom,
Matt Rissien