Religious School
January 2025
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Hello everyone,
I hope everyone had wonderful Hanukah celebrations filled with lights and latkes, friends and family. May light continue to come into the world.
Within the book of Genesis, a pattern emerges that is only broken in the two Torah potions we read this month. The pattern goes something like this:
• A patriarach has two sons.
• A patriarch must choose one son to prioritize, to receive his blessing.
• A rift occurs between these two brothers, which carries into the next generation, where that son favors one of his sons.
In many ways, Jacob enacts this pattern himself. Having stolen his own father’s blessing from his older brother, he favors the sons of his favorite wife, Joseph and Benjamin, to such a great degree that his other sons conspire to murder Joseph, although they choose to sell him as a slave instead.
And yet, at the end of Genesis, Jacob performs a tikkun or a repair for this harm that we have not yet seen. Instead of blessing only one of his sons, he blesses all of them, allowing and providing for an abundance of love, an abundance of blessing, one for each of his twelve sons.
As we enter the new year of the (Gregorian) calendar, may there be an abundance of blessing, a healing of past hurts, and a new beginning for us and our families. Ken y’hi ratzon, may it be the will of the Divine.
We’re preparing for two major events this month:
• Grandparents and Grandfriends Day- on January 12th, celebrating the intergenerational connections within our families and community
• And our annual MLK Service on January 17th!
RELIGIOUS SCHOOL CALENDAR
• Sunday, January 5 Regular Religious School
• Sunday, January 12 Religious School and Grandparents and Grandfriends Day!
• Friday, January 17 MLK Service (Attendance Encouraged)
• Sunday, January 19 NO RELIGIOUS SCHOOL (MLK Weekend)
• Sunday, January 26 Religious School and J-Play Group
Be sure to check the temple website for all the events and programs at Temple Emanu-El.
Sincerely,
Elisheva (Elli) Pripas
I hope everyone had wonderful Hanukah celebrations filled with lights and latkes, friends and family. May light continue to come into the world.
Within the book of Genesis, a pattern emerges that is only broken in the two Torah potions we read this month. The pattern goes something like this:
• A patriarach has two sons.
• A patriarch must choose one son to prioritize, to receive his blessing.
• A rift occurs between these two brothers, which carries into the next generation, where that son favors one of his sons.
In many ways, Jacob enacts this pattern himself. Having stolen his own father’s blessing from his older brother, he favors the sons of his favorite wife, Joseph and Benjamin, to such a great degree that his other sons conspire to murder Joseph, although they choose to sell him as a slave instead.
And yet, at the end of Genesis, Jacob performs a tikkun or a repair for this harm that we have not yet seen. Instead of blessing only one of his sons, he blesses all of them, allowing and providing for an abundance of love, an abundance of blessing, one for each of his twelve sons.
As we enter the new year of the (Gregorian) calendar, may there be an abundance of blessing, a healing of past hurts, and a new beginning for us and our families. Ken y’hi ratzon, may it be the will of the Divine.
We’re preparing for two major events this month:
• Grandparents and Grandfriends Day- on January 12th, celebrating the intergenerational connections within our families and community
• And our annual MLK Service on January 17th!
RELIGIOUS SCHOOL CALENDAR
• Sunday, January 5 Regular Religious School
• Sunday, January 12 Religious School and Grandparents and Grandfriends Day!
• Friday, January 17 MLK Service (Attendance Encouraged)
• Sunday, January 19 NO RELIGIOUS SCHOOL (MLK Weekend)
• Sunday, January 26 Religious School and J-Play Group
Be sure to check the temple website for all the events and programs at Temple Emanu-El.
Sincerely,
Elisheva (Elli) Pripas