We invite you to join us for Shabbat-Shavuot celebration and Torah Study on Saturday, May 30th (on Zoom of course!). Please note that all times listed below are for Pacific Time, so please adjust accordingly for your time zone!
Shavuot is celebrated in Israel as an agricultural holiday when Jews traditionally brought their “first fruits” to offer to God in the ancient Temple. It later evolved into a two-day holiday celebrating the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people – 7 full weeks after we were liberated from Egyptian slavery.
9:30-10:45am PT – Shabbat celebration of the universe & Hallel (i.e., morning prayers). You can download our prayerbook, here.
10:45-12:30pm PT – Torah Study and Yizkor Service
Cat Zavis will lead a discussion of the Bible’s Book of Ruth (traditionally read on this 2nd day of Shavuot). Ruth is remembered both for her decision to become part of the Jewish people and for her great grandson David who became the King of Israel whose offspring will be mashiakh ben deveed, the Messiah who will bring in a new era of peace and generosity for all people. Cat will present a feminist and immigrant-sensitive exploration of this very short Biblical text. (We will read the English version out loud; you are invited to read it in advance; you can access it here.) Ruth was a homeless refugee – in honor of her and the history of the Jewish people as refugees through much of the past 1800 years, Beyt Tikkun will donate a thousand dollars to organizations supporting the homeless and refugees just before Shavuot.
Rabbi Michael Lerner will lead the Yizkor service. We will honor people whom you care about who have lost their lives, all victims of the still real pandemic, and the killings of Palestinians and Israelis in the ongoing Occupation, and the new Israeli government’s priority to annex into Israel a significant part of the West Bank where Palestinians had hoped to built a Palestinian state living in peace with Israel.
To ensure that our Zoom call together is not disrupted by “zoom bombers” (Cat recently had a call interrupted), please click here to register for the call. You will then receive an email with the Zoom link to join the call. You will also receive notice of all future Torah study events. (If you have joined us previously, it is the same Zoom link.)
We hope to see you Saturday and may your week be filled with blessings,
Rabbi Michael Lerner and Cat Zavis
Please note: No one will be able to help you with this call after 5 pm on Friday or any time on Shabbat.
Recording from Our Last Torah Study:
Torah’s Radical Prophetic Economic Vision
Rabbi Michael Lerner and Cat Zavis led Shabbat morning prayers and Torah study on Saturday, May 16th. Some of you indicated you would like to be able to listen after the fact. You can watch the video, Part 1 and Part 2 (we accidentally stopped the recording instead of pausing!) or the audio Part 1 and Part 2.