June 2022 - Temple Beth Or

Religious School Registration Now Open – Deadline August 1

TBO Website Admin / Religious School, TBO News /

It’s that time of year — Religious School registration is now open. The form is online again this year for ease of use. The deadline for school registration and scholarships is August 1. Early August we will be very busy time for the office with High Holy Days preparations, so if it is possible for you to get your registration in early it is much appreciated.

TBO Website Admin / TBO News /

The results are in: 95% of voters supported moving forward with the capital campaign! Now that we have affirmed congregational support, we are ready to move on to the next steps. The capital campaign will launch this Fall, with a kickoff event on September 10. At the same time, we will be working with the architect to create construction drawings and will be getting bids from builders. Stay tuned to the Facilities website for more information!

TBO Website Admin / From Our Presidents /

We have all heard the expressions that something is black and white or cut and dried, meaning known and clear. There are lots of people who are most comfortable living their lives with everything being black and white – certain and fixed. However, the COVID–19 virus has made that all but impossible. Like it or not, we are all living in the gray zone, little in our lives is black and white any more. We are all living under a shadow of constant uncertainty. It is difficult to plan anything more than a few days out. Each occasion involves weighing the incalculable risk of participating against the sadness, disappointment, and isolation of missing out. Many activities have to be cancelled or modified at the last minute. We have to be prepared to pivot at any time. All this uncertainty leads to lots of frustration and stress making many cranky, including me on occasion.

And yet, it can also result in people becoming more flexible and creative. We are more able to roll with the punches, find new ways to accomplish something, and learn new skills to make things possible (like Zoom!). It can lead to greater appreciation of the interactions we do have – attending a performance, gathering with friends for an outing, or sharing a meal with others. I have learned to treasure these experiences and consider them to be gifts – small miracles. Living in the gray zone can also teach us to be more sympathetic and empathetic to others’ difficulties. We can understand their disappointments because we have had our own.

I never considered myself to be an especially flexible person, however, now that I am living in the seemingly endless gray zone, I am learning to accept uncertainty more and embrace adaptability. It is this ability, being able to adapt, that has allowed challenged species to survive for millennia and it will help us get to the other side of this situation too.

Here’s to going with the flow!

Melanie (she/her)
President

TBO Website Admin / From our Rabbi, Rabbi Kort /

There has been a lot of conversation lately about burnout. Many of us are feeling the effects of being overstressed from more than two years of living with a
pandemic. There is a “great resignation” of workers, especially in health care and education. Melanie Field and I were both drawn to the same story we heard on KUOW radio about a pastor in Seattle who “really felt like I was at my rope’s end” but found strength in showing weakness. Have no fear, I’m not thinking about leaving Beth Or, but the article did make me think about how we are experiencing burnout and fatigue as a synagogue community.

Pastor Peter Chin was lucky enough to be able to take a sabbatical, time away from the structure of his church community, to reflect and revive himself. The radio reporter concluded their interview with Pastor Chin with these words that resonated with me: “Peter is still considering his relationship to work and his role in a community. But he’s taking it day by day.”

During the months of June and July, our Torah readings take us through the Book of Bamidbar (Numbers). It is a time of uncertainty and transition for the Israelite people. They have been freed from the harsh structures of slavery but now find themselves trying to navigate a life of wandering bamidbar, in the wilderness. It is not until the Book of Devarim (Deuteronomy) when Moses and the Israelite people begin to look forward to the structures of life in the Promised Land. If we find ourselves exhausted navigating two years of a pandemic, how did the community of Israel navigate forty years in the wilderness?

Nachmonides, the 13th century Spanish Jewish leader, did his best to offer leadership to his community during the Inquisition. He was forced to publicly dispute the Catholic Church in 1263 and after winning the trial was forced to flee Spain. He writes in his introduction to the Book of Numbers that the wisdom of the book is being present and living in the moment.

Now this whole book deals only with those commandments which were meant only for a particular time, being the period when the Israelites stayed in the desert, and [it deals also] with the miracles which were done for them, in order to tell all the wondrous deeds of the Eternal wrought for them.

How did God support the Israelites through forty years in the wilderness? God focused on the immediate needs of the community and helped bring their attention to the miracles and wonders around them in the moment. To paraphrase Nachmonides, God helped the people take things “day by day.”

I’m proud and amazed that despite these trying times our Beth Or community is still able to plan for our future. At the same time, I know we are feeling fatigued as a community and want to heed the advice of the Book of Bamidbar. I hope that June and July allow you time to simply take things day to day and appreciate the miracle that is summer in the Pacific Northwest.

Rabbi Rachel Kort (she/her)