The sap is beginning to rise in the trees!
The sap is beginning to rise in the trees! We are beginning to hear once again voices of freedom and songs of redemption. There is renewed hope with vaccinations on the way and that the masks on our mouths will be removed. We yearn for our are lips to become unimpeded (in biblical terms circumcised) so that we can speak once again. We are witnessing in the highest realms of the land and in the heavens the struggle for the voice of truth, justice and freedom. The sap is beginning to rise.
This Sabbath, recalling the liberation of our people from bondage, is called Shabbat Shirah, the Sabbath of Song. That liberation only occurs because the people, standing at the Sea of Reeds, in a place called Pi HaKhirut, the Mouth of Freedom, find faith in their own voices and courageously enter the Sea. Their very action causes the Sea to open its mouth. Upon crossing the Sea their mouths are again opened as they join Miriam in song and dance.
In recent years we have dramatically seen how speech harms and distorts body, mind, and soul. The horrible battle between Lashon HaHarah, the evil tongue and Pi HaKhirut, the mouth of freedom, is playing out in our lives today and, most vividly, in Congress.
So as the sap begins to rise in the trees and the promise of redemption is opening to us, let us truly celebrate this coming Shabbat in song. Listen to your favorite songs, listen to Seeger, Dylan, Cohen, and Baez. Come sing with us this Shabbat morning if you would like! In Israel, the poppies are flowering and the almond trees are soon to flower. May we hear the voice of the turtle dove return to the Land.
Be safe,
Be well,
L’Shalom,
Reb David