What's Happening

Dear OZ family,

Another day.

The overriding message is “Be safe”. Safe practice is, according to Jewish law, more important than ritual practice. This is known as ”Chamira Sakanta M’Issura” and although, for many, a bitter pill to swallow, is the order of the day. My father told me that the power driving him to survival during the Holocaust, was not only to tell his story, but also to name children after his murdered family, and to say Kaddish for them. My older brother and sister bear the names of his parents, and I and my younger sister, two of his siblings, and the next three generations, which he lived to see, cover every sibling of his. It is hard to fathom that I would willingly forego Kaddish, but that is what “Chamira Sakanta M’Issura” means. Shuls are closed but hearts are open. Needs will grow in the coming days and weeks. If you were assigned names to call, please keep calling them. People will have uprooted Yom Tov plans and Seder plans, and we’ll work on that, hopefully in a better time. Meanwhile, Let us join in wishing Mazel Tov to Nicole and Brett Gartenberg, who were blessed with a baby girl, Sara Feiga, as well as to Helen and Harry Gross who were blessed with a great-grandson, born to their grandchildren Jonah and Deena. Tonight was supposed to be our shul annual dinner. This too shall pass. Be safe.

We will shortly have Mechiras Chametz forms on line. We normally solidify the transaction with a kinyan, that must be made in person. However, this year, given the constraints of the day, forms filled out on line will suffice. Look for them soon.

Also, tomorrow night at 8pm, join me on zoom.us for a class on the Laws of Pesach (details on separate email). This week we’ll discuss the preparations regarding chametz, and next week we’ll discuss the preparations for the Seder. After that we will have classes on the Haggadah.

This is a good time for binge learning, but above all, be safe.

Rabbi Allen Schwartz