Dear Friends,
It is an incredible feeling to be charged to head forth on a mission or task. The potential senses of purpose and possibility can be powerful.
For some, that mission may be simply heading to the grocery store to get ingredients for a special meal. For others, it can be the first step in a career or a career change. Or, it could be a crucial assignment from work. But in any event, being tasked and setting forth can be incredibly empowering.
Such was the case in today's Torah portion when Moses sent forth a dozen scouts or spies to reconnoiter the land of Canaan and see if it was hospitable for the wandering Israelites. These spies, irrespective of their eventual disparate reports, were empowered with a critical task and likely felt the trust and weight of their people’s future on their shoulders. It comes with being sent forth.
I imagine that most of us have felt some measure of the same in our life’s journeys. It may have come with work, family matters, inner purpose, or even Temple involvement. We continue the spirit of the scouts as we take our next steps.
I offer this message to you in part as an introduction to Phillip Fisherman, who will be joining TBJ later this summer as our new student cantor. Phillip recently returned stateside from his first year of cantorial school in Jerusalem, and he is already preparing for the High Holy Days in September. Phillip is bright, thoughtful, Jewishly curious, and musically talented. He is very much following in the footsteps of our biblical forebears in setting forth and beginning a career as he advances his schooling, and I know that TBJ will not only accord him a wonderful welcome but will embrace him warmly.
Please watch your email for introductory video messages from Phillip, the first next week and a second next month.
Yes, the Torah understood the power of being sent forth. And so do we!
With Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
It is an incredible feeling to be charged to head forth on a mission or task. The potential senses of purpose and possibility can be powerful.
For some, that mission may be simply heading to the grocery store to get ingredients for a special meal. For others, it can be the first step in a career or a career change. Or, it could be a crucial assignment from work. But in any event, being tasked and setting forth can be incredibly empowering.
Such was the case in today's Torah portion when Moses sent forth a dozen scouts or spies to reconnoiter the land of Canaan and see if it was hospitable for the wandering Israelites. These spies, irrespective of their eventual disparate reports, were empowered with a critical task and likely felt the trust and weight of their people’s future on their shoulders. It comes with being sent forth.
I imagine that most of us have felt some measure of the same in our life’s journeys. It may have come with work, family matters, inner purpose, or even Temple involvement. We continue the spirit of the scouts as we take our next steps.
I offer this message to you in part as an introduction to Phillip Fisherman, who will be joining TBJ later this summer as our new student cantor. Phillip recently returned stateside from his first year of cantorial school in Jerusalem, and he is already preparing for the High Holy Days in September. Phillip is bright, thoughtful, Jewishly curious, and musically talented. He is very much following in the footsteps of our biblical forebears in setting forth and beginning a career as he advances his schooling, and I know that TBJ will not only accord him a wonderful welcome but will embrace him warmly.
Please watch your email for introductory video messages from Phillip, the first next week and a second next month.
Yes, the Torah understood the power of being sent forth. And so do we!
With Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
