Rabbi Howard Morrison

This week at Beth Emeth, we are seeing many signs of returning to normalcy. One of them is the return of lifecycle ceremonies, in particular, Bnai Mitzvah. Last Shabbat, last Sunday, today (Thursday) and this coming Shabbat, we will have celebrated three Bar Mitzvahs and one Bat Mitzvah, with more to come in May and June.

I myself celebrated my Bar Mitzvah this week on the Jewish calendar in May of 1973 as part of my entire family's first ever visit to Israel. At the end of a two week family tour, I read Parshat Behar at the Kotel at the side closest to the Mechitza so that my entire family could feel close to the service. My introduction to Canadian Jews took place on that trip to Israel. On the previous Shabbat, we had met a group from a Montreal synagogue at a Kibbutz up North. Coincidentally, a week later, we all stayed at the same hotel in Jerusalem, and our  new Canadian friends were invited to my Bar Mitzvah on that particular Shabbat.

Over the years, I have been to Israel many times since my Bar Mitzvah - As a rabbinical student, as a rabbi leading shul trips, as a perpetual student studying Torah, and as a father visiting his child. Due to the pandemic, I and many others have not been to Israel over the past few years.

With the requests of others and my own desire, let's go to Israel as a synagogue family. On Tuesday, May 31 at 7PM, you are invited to a preliminary meeting at Beth Emeth to discuss ideas and dates so that we can fulfill as many goals as possible toward a Beth Emeth trip to Israel during Israel's 75^th year of celebration in 2023.

Back in May of 1973, I celebrated what I like to call my "Behar Mitzvah," based on the name of the Parsha. This week at our shul, a number of young people celebrated their "Behar Mitzvahs" on the eve of or during the week of Parshat Behar. I extend a Mazel Tov to them and to their families. These Simchas and others are a testament to the vitality of Judaism as we hopefully enter the final stages of the pandemic.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Howard Morrison