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B'nai
Israel's sixtieth anniversary celebration provides a unique
opportunity to appreciate what we have to cherish and value in
belonging to this special community.
It stems from our thousands of years of being custodians of a
tradition and value system that teach that healthy community is
built on ''we'' not ''I".
That, in turn, is premised on our commitment, I.e. covenant /
contract to work with and for God, to bring goodness and blessings
into as much of life as we can.
The prophet Micah spells out how it works, and, accordingly, what it
is that is so precious about Judaism that we keep alive and
celebrate at this time. ''It
has been told to you, human being, what is good and what God is
looking for from you; simply this: Do your daily doing with fairness
and integrity, be passionate and loving in your care for others and
lower your profile in going modestly / humbly with your God.”
Micah's words summarize the purpose of Judaism and contextualize
what we celebrate this month. What
makes the community Kadosh / Holy is our responsibility to dedicate
ourselves to living with integrity and fairness, seeking
opportunities to bring kindness, goodness and blessings into
peoples' lives, and to go about all of our ''business'' of living,
proceeding modestly with our Creator.
Our celebration, then, is not about how wonderful any of us, or our
founders may be, but how fortunate each of us is to be a part of
this teaching and the blessings and privilege that is ours to share:
the mitzvot with each other, our children, and generations to
follow.
May we grow from strength to strength and simcha to simcha!
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