From the Rabbi - September 2005

Dear Friends,

This past summer, I had two remarkable experiences that will help me prepare for the High Holy Days. Sue and I went on a week-long rafting trip with friends down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon in early July. At the end of the month, we both served as faculty at Camp Newman, the Reform Movement's camp in Santa Rosa, California.

Rafting the Grand Canyon was a once in a lifetime experience. Words fail to describe the incredible power, beauty, and glory of that sacred place. Our trip was simultaneously exhilarating and sobering. The vast solitude, the awe-inspiring scale of the canyon walls, and the roaring force of the river made us feel both insignificant and blessed. To grasp the scale of the passage of time it took to create such magnificence is to stand in the presence of God and recognize that our time on earth is infinitesimal. Yet, at the same time, to participate intimately in such a powerful reflection of God's creation is a gift that elevates the soul. We emerged humbled and grateful.

During our time at camp we taught, sang, celebrated and lived in an intensely Jewish environment. This summer, eleven students from Congregation Albert went to Camp Newman. They made life long friendships, while learning about and celebrating their Judaism in a way that no classroom could duplicate. Their experiences were as life changing for them as was the rafting trip for us, if not more so. They tasted the power of the joy of Jewish living and hungered for more.

We are about to enter the Hebrew month of Elul, the time of Cheshbon HaNefesh, taking an inventory of our souls in preparation for the High Holy Days. A large part of my Cheshbon will revolve around the crashing waves and beautiful vistas of the Grand Canyon, while feeling the joy of Jewish living that we experienced at Camp Newman.

L'Shanah Tovah U'metukah - May the New Year be good and sweet for all of us.

B'shalom,
Rabbi Joseph R. Black

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