The Benediction. L’chaim and Mazel Tov!

May your thoughts and your deeds inspire and encourage each other. May you be gracious and generous to each other and give comfort to one another. May you be a source of strength and wisdom one to the other as you search for purpose and meaning and Shalom.

On this Day we face a difficult decree. One of us rides the whirlwind home taken up Divine embrace. The breath of life kissed from the lips.

Fear and trembling is not death. Pain and anguish is not death. Agony and anger is not death. Death is the Profound Mystery made known. The beyond becomes near. The many become whole. The broken mended. The fallen uplifted. All is ancient. All is new. All is present in the drama of this moment. Death is the great reunion.

From the Babylonian Talmud, Berachot 29B:

May it be your will, O Lord my God, to lead me forth in peace, and direct my steps in peace and uphold me in peace, and deliver me from the hands of every enemy and ambush along the way, and send a blessing on the works of my hands and cause me to find grace, kindness and mercy in Your eyes and in the eyes of all who see me. Blessed are You, O Lord, the One who responds to prayer.

Rabbi

Baruchim Ha-Baim, welcome in to the midst of a great adventure, mysterious and awesome in its unfolding.

A child has entered your care. Fragile and helpless, dependent upon your wisdom, patience and devotion, this little person has begun a unique journey, a sacred pilgrimage towards independence and individuality. Be ready to guide. Be alert to encourage this child to use his/her inborn sense of wonder. Share with this child the joy of his/her discoveries and the excitement of his/her adventures into the world of drama and dimension. Instill in this child the tools for following moral and ethical pathways and for sensing the Holy. Inculcate within your son/daughter the courage to face the Mysteries that remain so profound.

Mother or Grandmother

Precious child, you are a mystery to me. Love and design entwined together have created you. A spark has been kindled within you. Now, it is from your own fire that the glow of life will come.

Creating Community

Baruchim Haba-im! Welcome into this community of discovery. Welcome to the search for Judaism that is responsive to the drama we play out with our lives. Welcome to the quest for meaning and for spiritual fulfillment. Welcome to this service of Bat/Bar Mitzvah and to this ritual of celebrating a young person’s growth. Welcome into our midst, into this community, into the sacred moments of life.

Join with us that you may unite your being with ours, your heart with our heart, your strength with our strength.

Together we shall open ourselves to the essence of things, to the fertile ground of our innermost being that is the source of our beliefs and of our truths and of the process we call Judaism.

This service of exploration opens the gates of discovery onto a restless world. Ours is a journey away from the dark corners of the wilderness towards a place of light, a place of Mitzvot.

We set this stone as a seal upon our hearts. This precious stone, this rock of ages, this sign of the journey of the generations, of the journey from the beginning of time, this memorial made from the lasting memories of love.

We set this stone in the earth as a corner stone of the throne of Glory. We set it in the soul of the Sacred. This is the stone of the centuries of Jewish life, stone that marks our travels, stone of the covenant cut at Sinai, stone of Jerusalem, stone of the traditions of the righteous, the stone of ________.

Losses are necessary. Mourning, grief and sorrow are all appropriate responses to loss. Each of us has the will and the inner strength to heal. It just takes time. And, a helping guide, mentor and coach makes that journey easier.

After a loss, after the shock and struggle to accept, after the memorials and the tributes and the flood of desires, longings and memories, after family and friends return home -- then what?.

Jewish Life in the Foot Hills of the Mother Lode

Jewish identity is a search for meaning and consciousness
To offer praise and gratitude
To have contact with the Sacred
To make the journey one of success and of contribution

The Goals of the Congregation and the Jewish Community

To worship, to study and to meet
To sustain and to support the community
To encourage ourselves to see through Jewish eyes

Rabbi’s Goals

To guide the Congregation towards its goals
To make the past, present and the future valuable
To inspire, motivate and mentor

Worship and Celebration

Shabbat and the Festivals, Life Cycle Events, Simchas and Sorrows
To reveal the secrets and the power inherent within the Blessings
To enable the individual to experience awe, wonder and the extraordinary

Education

To present for consideration the meanings contained in the name JEW
To help prepare others for a life of value, quality, service and love
To discover our profound spiritual heritage and the treasures of our religious self-worth

Contribution (Tikkun Ha-Olam)

Congregant – Rabbi relationships
Making the world a little better and bit more knowledgeable

Measuring Results

By goals achieved
By Congregational membership growth
By participation in on-going and new programs
By the vision of our leaders