Summer Thoughts

Shabbat Candle Lighting Times for
Moscow, Russia
Friday, July 22nd
Light Candles at 20:36
Shabbat, July 23rd,
Shabbat Ends 22:13
Torah Portion: Balak

Summer Thoughts
Are you getting away this summer?

Taking some weekends off? Maybe a week or two abroad?

These months are commonly a time to slow things down a bit, or at least carve out more time for ‘self’ and family.

After all it’s summer, and summer has a special rhythm.

Each season has its own unique beat. As we move through the days, months and years, we need to pause and identify each season’s tempo, embrace its particular character and grow with it.

So, let’s think about summer: What is particularly striking about this season?

Obviously, summer is a time of increased light and warmth; we have longer daylight hours, and higher temperatures. In other words, summer is a time when the sun is in fuller glory and effect.

Now think about your own internal seasons. There are times when we go through an internal winter, when our internal ‘sun’ – the soul – doesn’t seem to be shining, when our moral vision and priorities don’t express their full light into our daily lives. There are times when conscience and values are in relative hibernation, when the spirit is cold, and personality growth seems a part of the distant past.

Then there’s my internal ‘summer.’, when my internal sun shines. My soul summer is about feeling the internal capacity for spirituality and warmth.

So if I’m able to relax a bit from the everyday stresses and ‘get away’, then I need to use that opportunity to synchronize myself with nature; I need to connect with my own internal summer by increasing the light and warmth in my life.

We each have valuable relationships – with loved ones, with our community and with our G-d – and relationships need nurturing. So if you’re running on fewer cylinders this summer, and have some extra space in your brain and heart, those relationships could probably use some extra warmth.

You have an internal sun. Let it shine.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Yanky and Rivky Klein

This email is In Loving memory of my dear father
R’ Yerachmiel Binyamin Halevi ben R, Menachem Klein OBM