Dear Friends,
As you may have heard, we are weeks away from our sabbatical. This means a few things:
- We have been here for seven years already!
- We will be out of the office and off-duty for four months and
- The congregation gets four months to explore and grow on its own without
meddlesome rabbis telling you what to do.
The Sabbatical is an old idea in the Torah, which hopefully will guide us and all of you over the next few months. Like Shabbat, which shares the same root as sabbatical, we need rest, and are commanded to do it (especially when we would probably not do it for ourselves). Just as we rest on the 7th day, the Sabbatical Year happens after 7 years. Ours is intended in much the same way to be restful and rejuvenating.
While we are resting from our normal work, we plan to do much more than just sit. After we celebrate Ramona’s becoming Bat Mitzvah in May, we will spend the month relaxing while the kids finish the school year. In June, we are headed to Italy to spend time with Rabbi Sara’s family. Then, we will meet up with Rabbi Benjamin’s mother and brother for a trip through Scotland and England. Following that, we hope to take a road trip through some National Parks. Add in a handful of baseball games, and you have our formula for sabbatical.
As for the community, you are also in for quite an adventure. We hope that this time is beneficial for all of you as well. While we will not be here, there are many people who have stepped up and offered to lead services, teach, and make sure that all of the community’s needs are met. We will not have access to our work phones or email, but many capable people have offered to meet everyone’s needs in our absence. If you have wanted to get more involved, now is the time. Many congregations have found that while their rabbis have been on sabbatical, they can do more than they ever imagined.
We still have a few more weeks and would love to see everyone at the Passover Seder at the Atlantis and other events before we go!
Yours,
Rabbi Benjamin and Rabbi Sara