Dear congregants,

It is a joy to be able to write to you again through this medium after my maternity leave. My husband and I are deeply grateful for all the support we have received, it has moved us to tears.
Each of you have been of immense help with your contributions. Let us say “we have a beautiful congregation”!. 

These two months have helped me think about several things. Firstly, I am discovering myself as a mother in a challenging and unfortunately hostile world at this time for the Jewish people. Upon returning to the classroom and feeling the love and joy of the students a few days ago, I have undoubtedly also been able to appreciate that sending our children to religious school is a political decision.

It excites me to think that behind those little faces, there are families supporting Jewish education. And the result of this is that our kids are growing up with a strong identity and pride in being who they are. Or maybe they haven't discovered it yet, but without a doubt everything we plant today we will reap tomorrow.

I have become more aware of the enormous task that we, parents and educators of all kinds, have to build in this world a path of peace, goodness and patience for the well-being of our children. And not only to do it because it is the right thing to do, but to do it "v'chol l'vavecha", with all our hart, and with all our soul and with all our might.

Definitely for me, being a mother means to this day, giving my daughter all my heart in everything I do for her. I feel like I have a new pain in my heart, it's a love so strong that it hurts. Not because her love hurts me, quite the opposite, but because it is so powerful and great that it hurts me when I am away from home or just thinking that something bad could happen to her. And it is in this same way that God loves all of us, God’s children.

I can't even imagine the pain Aron felt when he lost his two sons in this parsha. It's heartbreaking. And I don't find a single verse or a single word in this Parasha that inspires me to think that one day he found comfort. He dedicated the rest of his life to serving God, perhaps in that way he found peace in his heart? Perhaps he got the support he needed in God, understanding him as we pray every Shabbat: "m'chalkeil chayim b'chesed", the Power who "sustains life through love." Maybe not, we can't know. It is a secret that he carried until the end of his days.

So here goes, my brief wish for all of us this week. After having experienced Pesach in Community, may God grant that we can treasure our freedom day by day. In what way? Banishing the "chametz" from our lives. Opposing every manifestation of slavery that we see in our present: poverty, denying people to live their religion, through human trafficking, sex tourism, the indiscriminate felling of trees, acquiring bad habits.

Let us live in such a way as to be able to give back to the universe, all the love that sustains us, m'chalkeil. Let's be loving and open our eyes to see those who need our support.

Shabbat shalom!