 | At this hour, Jewish communities around the world are preparing for Passover – the festival of freedom whose underpinnings first made the Children of Israel into a people. What makes us a people is shared experience and shared calling – and this month it's on us to renew both. A robust calendar of events both local and global is here to help. |
By Rabbi David
Happy April, Shir Ami! I'm just back from the market, matzah in tow. It won't be long before Passover seders begin around the world.
On every continent, people like us – and also people very much unlike us – will gather to tell stories, sing songs and eat foods commemorating our spiritual ancestors' liberation from bondage. The rituals of Passover are both timelessly ancient and flexibly modern – ones we inherit, and ones that our people craft in our own days and ways.
What makes us a people at all? It's a worthy question that we'll explore in our Community Conversations series, because answers bear on our we approach the Mideast. And why does this question especially matter now, at the start of April?
As a people, we're not limited by race, family origin, national origin, nationality, language or belief. Most anyone can opt in. Jews proudly live in dozens of countries speaking diverse languages in amidst diverse cultures. There are Jews who are devout in traditional ways, Jews who are devout in modern ways, Jews who roll in different ways, Jews who know they're Jews and for them that's enough, and folks somewhere in between or marching to the beats of their own drummers. All one people.
Yes, we have shared holidays – and some of those holidays have some shared rituals. But far more than even shared holidays or rituals, it is our common fabric of identity that makes us a people at all. We share the ancestral identity of a people that knows the pain of bondage and hate, a people that beats the odds, a people that stands for ending bondage and hate in all their forms, a people in 35-century dialogue with the sacred to help heal our broken world.
Whatever our collective differences, these are the core of what makes us a people. And it is this core we renew on this spring journey from Passover to Shavuot that we launch now.
At this very moment, our people are being sliced and diced, sorted into political camps, played off one another. Add societal tumult and sheer exhaustion, and it can feel difficult to lean into being Jewish and doing Jewish.
Such times are precisely when it matters most. As the history of our people and the State of Israel amply shows, together we draw strength to do and become what others (and maybe we ourselves) imagine is impossible. And the emphasis is on together. It is together that we unlock our potential, sweeten the journey and defy the odds.
This April, there are many ways to lean into Jewish life and community together – some at Shir Ami, some around town, some globally. I invite you into all of them during this season of freedom and collective liberation. So may it be for us and all our loved ones.
From my heart to yours, Hag Pesah sameah / חג פסח שמח / Happy Passover!
Happy April, Shir Ami! I'm just back from the market, matzah in tow. It won't be long before Passover seders begin around the world.
On every continent, people like us – and also people very much unlike us – will gather to tell stories, sing songs and eat foods commemorating our spiritual ancestors' liberation from bondage. The rituals of Passover are both timelessly ancient and flexibly modern – ones we inherit, and ones that our people craft in our own days and ways.
What makes us a people at all? It's a worthy question that we'll explore in our Community Conversations series, because answers bear on our we approach the Mideast. And why does this question especially matter now, at the start of April?
As a people, we're not limited by race, family origin, national origin, nationality, language or belief. Most anyone can opt in. Jews proudly live in dozens of countries speaking diverse languages in amidst diverse cultures. There are Jews who are devout in traditional ways, Jews who are devout in modern ways, Jews who roll in different ways, Jews who know they're Jews and for them that's enough, and folks somewhere in between or marching to the beats of their own drummers. All one people.
Yes, we have shared holidays – and some of those holidays have some shared rituals. But far more than even shared holidays or rituals, it is our common fabric of identity that makes us a people at all. We share the ancestral identity of a people that knows the pain of bondage and hate, a people that beats the odds, a people that stands for ending bondage and hate in all their forms, a people in 35-century dialogue with the sacred to help heal our broken world.
Whatever our collective differences, these are the core of what makes us a people. And it is this core we renew on this spring journey from Passover to Shavuot that we launch now.
At this very moment, our people are being sliced and diced, sorted into political camps, played off one another. Add societal tumult and sheer exhaustion, and it can feel difficult to lean into being Jewish and doing Jewish.
Such times are precisely when it matters most. As the history of our people and the State of Israel amply shows, together we draw strength to do and become what others (and maybe we ourselves) imagine is impossible. And the emphasis is on together. It is together that we unlock our potential, sweeten the journey and defy the odds.
This April, there are many ways to lean into Jewish life and community together – some at Shir Ami, some around town, some globally. I invite you into all of them during this season of freedom and collective liberation. So may it be for us and all our loved ones.
From my heart to yours, Hag Pesah sameah / חג פסח שמח / Happy Passover!
This Month's Event Calendar
World Zionist Congress elections (all month). Your vote counts! Elections are underway for the 39th World Zionist Congress, the "Parliament of the Jewish people," which will meet in Jerusalem in October 2025. The WZC is a key voice of world Jewry, and its election slates run the gamut from the most liberal to the most conservative and everything in between. Some slates are affiliated with denominations; many are not. Elections end May 4. For more information and to cast your vote, visit the World Zionist Congress election website.
Community Passover Seder (April 13). Register by April 5 for Shir Ami's community seder on Sunday, April 13, in the Community Room of Round Hill Community Church. We'll start at 6:00pm sharp, so thank you for making advance arrangements. Deep thanks to Fran Pribish and Anne Gorski for heading up this year's prep team. I look forward to welcoming and celebrating with you. If you know of others having nowhere to go, they are welcome with us.
Mideast Series (April 15). Our Community Conversations series, "Pride, Pain and Purpose Astride the Mideast" will begin April 15 at 7pm via zoom The series will continue every other week through June. Please register now (limited to members and, via waitlist, folks who've learned with Shir Ami in the past).
Online Passover Shabbat and Yizkor (April 18). It's not on the official calendar, but I'll host an online Shabbat during Passover on April 18, starting 7:00pm, so folks can offer Yizkor for beloveds no longer in body. (We will repeat Yizkor for Shavuot and Sukkot, in addition to the major Yizkor of Yom Kippur.)
Yom HaShoah • 80 Years after Auschwitz (April 23). Please join the area Jewish community for a deep and meaningful commemoration of Yom HaShoah / Holocaust Remembrance Day at Greenwich Reform Synagogue, starting 7:00pm. We will mark 80 years after Auschwitz and hear from one of the world's few remaining survivors. I will have the deep honor to speak immediately after. Advance registration required via UJA-JCC Greenwich.
Earth Week Shabbat (April 25). Shir Ami's regular schedule returns for a spirited and music-filled Shabbat coinciding with Earth Week on April 25. Celebratory oneg to follow, sponsored by Marie and Phil Rosen. Thank you, Marie and Phil!
Community Passover Seder (April 13). Register by April 5 for Shir Ami's community seder on Sunday, April 13, in the Community Room of Round Hill Community Church. We'll start at 6:00pm sharp, so thank you for making advance arrangements. Deep thanks to Fran Pribish and Anne Gorski for heading up this year's prep team. I look forward to welcoming and celebrating with you. If you know of others having nowhere to go, they are welcome with us.
Mideast Series (April 15). Our Community Conversations series, "Pride, Pain and Purpose Astride the Mideast" will begin April 15 at 7pm via zoom The series will continue every other week through June. Please register now (limited to members and, via waitlist, folks who've learned with Shir Ami in the past).
Online Passover Shabbat and Yizkor (April 18). It's not on the official calendar, but I'll host an online Shabbat during Passover on April 18, starting 7:00pm, so folks can offer Yizkor for beloveds no longer in body. (We will repeat Yizkor for Shavuot and Sukkot, in addition to the major Yizkor of Yom Kippur.)
Yom HaShoah • 80 Years after Auschwitz (April 23). Please join the area Jewish community for a deep and meaningful commemoration of Yom HaShoah / Holocaust Remembrance Day at Greenwich Reform Synagogue, starting 7:00pm. We will mark 80 years after Auschwitz and hear from one of the world's few remaining survivors. I will have the deep honor to speak immediately after. Advance registration required via UJA-JCC Greenwich.
Earth Week Shabbat (April 25). Shir Ami's regular schedule returns for a spirited and music-filled Shabbat coinciding with Earth Week on April 25. Celebratory oneg to follow, sponsored by Marie and Phil Rosen. Thank you, Marie and Phil!
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