Dear Hevreh,

Tonight is Celebration Shabbat a chance for all of those celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, or other simhahs in March to come together in song, dance, and blessing. (Full disclosure: I will be one of the ones celebrating a birthday blessing tonight 😉 ). Yet, to be honest, every service is an opportunity to celebrate together. Whether it’s checking in on our weeks or just enjoying the rituals of our tradition, there’s nothing like coming together in community and celebrating our Judaism.

But in addition to these joyous kinds of celebration, there is another critical kind of celebrationthat we experience every Shabbat service. It’s the celebration of life through the recitation ofkaddish for a loved one. Yes, kaddish helps us grieve, and grieving is not something we normally associate with celebrating. That being said, I can’t tell you how many times I walk into a family’s household before performing a funeral for a loved one and the main thing they want the funeral to do is to celebrate the life of their loved one. Reciting kaddish is not the same kind of celebration as singing and dancing for a birthday, but it is just as significant (if not more) because it reminds us that we celebrate to cherish the important moments of life. 

This is why every service is a celebration, because every service has someone who wants to cherish the important moments of the life of their loved one. This is why in our weekly announcements, we will share one of those cherished moments with the community so that you will be enticed to join us in celebrating those moments together. Thus tonight, in addition to the March birthdays (woohoo!) and anniversaries, we will celebrate Sherry’s mother who was a very busy lady, but always made time to have family dinners for the Jewish holidays.

Please join us tonight for all of our celebrations, and if you have a cherished moment of a loved one whose yahrtzeit is coming up, please let me know.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Ari Saks

Category : Celebration Shabbat Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Shabbat
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