Ahavat Olam Synagogue welcomes everyone to join us on line via Zoom in thoughtful, moving Shabbat morning prayers on July 9, 2022 at 10:00 am, mostly sung, much in Hebrew, some in English, some in the language of the heart and in the speech of the angels.

Please join us if you can: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87961573615?pwd=eHRTWEV6dDNneWs2U2M5a0dIVHNVdz09  

The weekly parshah (Torah portion) is Chukat (Numbers 19:1 – 22:1). It includes the mysterious rules around the sacrifice of the “red heifer”, as well as the death of Miriam, Moses’ striking the rock  (instead of politely speaking to it — accounted by many commentators as a grave sin) to bring forth water, and the death of Aaron. Those of us who are of “a certain age” can probably sympathize with Moses as his contemporaries begin to pass from this life, and he finds his own powers and discretion waning.

And speaking of discretion — the Haftarah for this week is the story of Jephthah (Judges 11:1-33) and his rash vow: “If you deliver the children of Ammon into my hand, then whatever comes first through the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the battle, shall be the Eternal’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt-offering”. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t end well.

https://www.facebook.com/events/553808496465422

If you have questions, please write to info@ahavat-olam.ca.

[Image: Alexandre Cabanel, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons: The Daughter of Jephthah https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alexandre_Cabanel_-_The_Daughter_of_Jephthah_(1879,_Oil_on_canvas).JPG]