Our remodel project is underway! Right now, it’s easy to see the exterior work, but interior prep and demolition is also underway. We’re looking forward to seeing the new building extension take shape once the site preparation and drainage vault are complete. It’s not too late to support the project! Information on the plans and our capital campaign, plus construction updates, can all be found at templebethor.org/building
TBO Website Admin
Posts by JonaRose Feinberg:
Our community gathered to celebrate Noah’s 25 years as TBO Religious School song leader. Noah is retiring from this role; happily he will continue as a regular song leader at services. Festivities included a revised dinosaur song about Noah (written by our very own lyricist, Debbie Halliday), a slide show created by Ron Green, presentation of gifts, lovely comments about Noah, and cake! Noah’s wife, kids and mom attended the event. Noah also shared some remarks with us.
Thanks to all who joined us in showing Noah our appreciation and also to the volunteers who helped make this party possible.
From June 26 through July 8, 2024, the Massa program had a life-changing trip exploring Judaism in Spain and Portugal. As the chaperone from TBO, it was my pleasure and honor to accompany our teens on this journey. We started at Sea-Tac Airport, with hellos for our fellow travelers from Congregation Beth Israel in Bellingham and goodbyes to the parents, before hopping over to Amsterdam for a four-hour layover before arriving in Barcelona, Spain.
In Barcelona, we toured much of the city, especially the Gaudi sites, before going to the oldest, Roman part of the city where the old synagogue is. Next was Madrid. We spent a little time in the city, but nearby is the old city of Toledo which had some of the most expansive evidence of Jewish life. Spreading out from the old Jewish quarter, there were little tiles in the street and along the bottoms of walls, with Jewish symbols such as stars, letters and menorahs. It was a wonderful scavenger hunt to find as many as we could.
Cordoba was the next city on our tour, where we went to the old Jewish quarter that was a walled-in city within the city. A statue of Maimonides greeted us from his birthplace.
Seville was next on our tour. We were now in the south of Spain, and the hot weather reflected it. The old city and a tour of the largest cathedral in Spain, third largest in Europe, took place in the morning, and then everyone was ready to go back to air-conditioned hotel rooms. That evening, we all went to see a Flamenco performance, one of the best parts of the trip. Grenada and the Alhambra were quite the sights to be seen, and at around 100 degrees, ones we didn’t last long at!
We finally came to the Mediterranean and stayed near the beach for three days. The evenings were spent walking down to the beach for an evening dip, and one day was spent at the beach, or hotel, for those of us who just wanted to chill for the day. Ten days in, we left Spain for the British territory of Gibraltar. Everyone could forget their Spanish for the day and shop in pounds instead of Euros. The trip up the Rock of Gibraltar was even better with the macaque monkeys that were brought over in 711 CE and have lived there ever since. Our last two days were spent in and around Lisbon. We went around the city a bit and then drove up the Atlantic coast to visit Sintra and Cascais, where we could see the remnants of Jewish culture. After twelve days of Jewish learning, seeing the history of our people in person, and hearing Spanish and Portuguese history from their perspectives, it was time to say goodbye to our tour guide, Veronica, and return to Seattle.
-Jennifer Cail
Our hearts are heavy with grief as we move into this Shabbat. The recovery of the bodies of six hostages over the weekend, murdered at the prime of their lives, brought with it a fresh round of mourning in the ongoing collective grief since October 7. At the same time we hold on to sorrow, we are inspired by the families of hostages who have taught us so much about responding to tragedy by taking action, building community, and bringing people together to work for the greater good. Amid their pain they have continued to advocate for the lives of hostages and limit the damage to innocent civilians in Gaza.
During this week of loss, we began the new Hebrew month of Elul, the month leading to the High Holy Days. In this sacred season of reflection, may we work together to bring true repair to our broken world.
I look forward to spending time with you during this month of Elul and during the High Holy Day season. We hope you will join us this evening at 7:30 pm for our Shabbat service in-person at TBO and streamed online, led by Vicki Schwartz and Shoshana Stombaugh.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Kort
A time to grieve
A season is set for everything, a time for every experience under heaven:
A time for being born and a time for dying,
A time for planting and a time for uprooting the planted;
A time for slaying and a time for healing,
A time for tearing down and a time for building up;
A time for weeping and a time for laughing,
A time for wailing and a time for dancing…
A time for loving and a time for hating;
A time for war and a time for peace. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-4; 8)
Many Jewish leaders and academics have called the past few decades of Jewish life a “Modern Jewish Renaissance.” Jewish institutions thrived. At least in America, antisemitism was at an all-time low. Jews held prestigious positions in governments and institutions. Israel, the “Startup Nation,” had a vibrant economy and the terrorism that disrupted life in the late 1990s and early 2000s had subsided. While Kohelet, the Book of Ecclesiastes, notes that there are good times and difficult times, hardship seemed to be behind us; a history to study and not our lived experience.
Our situation as a Jewish people has radically changed over the past six months. These are not easy times to be Jewish – in America, in Israel and around the world.
This is not the first time our people have suffered hardship. We can look to the wisdom of those who came before us to help navigate the hardship we are living through. Our Rabbinic sages who led the Jewish community after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem used the calendar as a tool to reframe Jewish life without a central gathering place and system of sacrifices that the Torah described. These Jewish leaders chose to focus on collective Jewish memory as opposed to collective Jewish offerings. For example, the Torah simply describes the upcoming holiday of Shavuot as an agricultural holiday, while our sages link Shavuot to the historical event of revelation at Sinai. After the destruction of the Temple, our sages not only created space in our Hebrew calendar to mark celebratory events in our history, they made space for us to mourn difficult times, too.
Perhaps with the exception of the modern holiday of Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), in past years, I tended to highlight the celebratory days in our Jewish calendar and downplay dates dedicated to remembering hard times and events. During these tough days we find ourselves in as a Jewish people, I am inclined to lean into the dates on our Jewish calendar that are reserved for us to recognize loss and take time to grieve.
While the hardship of being Jewish is a new experience for many of us, our sages remind us that suffering has been a large part of our people’s three-thousand year history. If you add together the days the rabbis mark for celebration and the days they mark for collective mourning, the calendar is weighted toward the latter. We observe this in the spring holiday cycle we are in the midst of right now. The days dedicated to celebrating our Exodus from Egypt and the giving of Torah at Sinai are bookends to the forty-nine-day period of the counting of the Omer. While the Torah simply explains the Omer as an agricultural count, our rabbinic sages, in the aftermath of the destruction of the Temple, suggest that these seven weeks should be ritualized by mourning practices similar to those instructed after the loss of a close relative.
There is much for us to grieve as a Jewish people right now.
The Hamas terrorist attacks on October 7 were the worst attack on Jews since the Shoah. War is being waged against Israel on multiple fronts. Antisemitism in America and around the world is rampant. The war between Hamas and Israel has caused division in our Jewish communities and families. As we hold onto our people’s pain, our hearts are heavy responding to the extreme loss of life and humanitarian crisis for Palestinians in Gaza, too.
While it is my typical nature to focus on the positive, this spring I feel compelled to embrace the wisdom of our sages and take time to mark loss and grieve as a community. As I lead you in counting the Omer at Shabbat services this month, in addition to the traditional blessing and count, I will pause and share a reflection on collective grief. The past few years, I have highlighted the celebration of Lag BaOmer in our Temple Beth Or calendar. This year, I will highlight the modern Jewish observances of Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) and Yom HaZikaron (Israeli Memorial Day for soldiers and victims of terror). I hope you will join me for a special Shabbat service on Saturday, May 11, where we will honor Yom HaShoah and Yom HaZikaron with special poetry, music and our El Malei Rachamim memorial prayer.
“There is a season set for everything, a time for every experience under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
We pray for times of peace and tranquility, but must take time to recognize the loss we have experienced as a Jewish community. Looking at the many terrifying times our Jewish people have faced throughout our three millennia history offers comfort to us too. We are reminded that while we have faced horror, we have remained resilient as a people.
Rabbi Rachel Kort (she/her)
By Sam Halle
Did you know that our Everett Police Department’s K-9 Officers don’t have bulletproof vests?!В They only have a fabric police harness and a leash. They are in grave danger from armed criminals!В They risk their lives every day for citizens of Snohomish County.
This Fall, I met an Everett Police Officer and his K-9 partner, Duke.В The human officer told me that Duke and his 3 fellow K-9 Officers get shot at and some bad guys also try to stab them!В This happens all the time and even though the K-9 Officers are in danger, they risk their lives to keep us safe anyway.
I feel so strongly about trying to do something to help protect our K-9 Officers that I am making this my Bar Mitzvah project.  I can’t do this on my own and I need your help!
My goal is to raise enough money for at least 2 bulletproof vests for these real-life K-9 superheroes by my Bar Mitzvah on August 13, 2022. These bulletproof or ballistic canine vests can stop a severe or even fatal knife or bullet injury from occurring. I hope that after the fundraising is over all 4 K-9 Officers are safe from knives and bullets fired by the criminals they’re trying to catch.
Everett PD and I have partnered with Brady’s K9 Fund. The link that goes directly to my Mitzvah Project is:  https://givebutter.com/
I really love my Temple Beth Or community and appreciate your support for my Bar Mitzvah project.В Our 2-legged and 4-legged police do a lot to keep our Jewish community safe.В I hope together we can achieve this goal.В What a mitzvah it will be!
Thank you so much, everyone!В With lots of love, Sam Halle
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.В 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.
Register here or contact the office with questions.
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!
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
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)