MY SITE
Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow5/29/2023 --by Rabbi Shoshana What a glorious final week I got to enjoy in Birmingham and especially at the Birmingham Progressive Synagogue. First of all, the weather turned absolutely gorgeous. It was as if winter had never happened! I have been enjoying the beautiful gardens around town and also the delicate wildflowers. It’s hard to believe that it was just a few months ago that I was shuddering from the cold. Thank you Birmingham! But even more, my last week was glorious because of the many wonderful Jewish moments I enjoyed. On Wednesday, I finally got to experience my first Nisa Nashim book group. This group of Muslim and Jewish women has been gathering both on Zoom and in-person since 2020, with lively discussions about books by authors from both religious traditions. I have been very impressed by the openness of conversation among people of different faith groups in Birmingham, and the meeting on Wednesday night was no exception. We looked at Linda Grant’s raw and honest memoir of her mother’s dementia “Remind me who I am again,” and this provoked discussion of our obligations as daughters from Muslim and Jewish families. It was also the first of a number of encounters with cheesecake, which is always a good thing. My thanks to all of the women for their thoughtful contributions. On Thursday evening, a minyan of BPS members gathered on Zoom to launch the festival of Shavuot and for a quick tour through the five scrolls. We read segments from Ecclesiastes and Lamentations, some of the more salacious parts of the Scroll of Esther, and the lyrical first two chapters of the Song of Songs. We then read through the whole of the book of Ruth, with its encouraging message of the rewards for kindness. The next morning brought more sacred study, as we concluded our study of I Samuel and read David’s magnificent lament for Saul and Jonathan at the start of II Samuel.
And then there were the concluding events at BPS: a well-attended dinner on Friday night, and then the grand finale on Shabbat and Shavuot morning. It was my great joy to invite up four of the five people who have finalised their conversions in the months that I’ve been at BPS. I made good on one of my goals by making sure that everyone in attendance learned the song “Siman tov v’mazel tov,” which we sang four times over the morning! We enjoyed cheesecake both on Friday evening and following services on Shabbat morning, and I made sure to coral those in attendance on Saturday for a photo together. I love this photo, which reflects the great diversity of the BPS community. The very next morning, I boarded an early flight to Dublin. I’m now at the start of a peaceful week in southeastern Ireland with my sister and her family. I’m looking forward to a relatively quiet time after the whirlwind of activity over the last week. At the same time, I am missing those I have had the joy to get to know in this short time. It’s been remarkable to me how close I’ve come to feel to many of the members of this congregation on the opposite side of the world. I’m very thankful to have had this extraordinary experience.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.Rabbi Shoshana Kaminsky has been the rabbi of Beit Shalom in Adelaide, South Australia for the last sixteen years. She's very happy to be serving Birmingham Progressive Synagogue for the next three months.
] ArchivesCategories |