Why are these RS members standing around bowls of organic food in the RS kitchen?  They are in the middle of a mitzvah!  Many of us participate in our congregational CSA (community supported agriculture) as share holders who support a local organic farm and take home fresh vegetables every week.  Each week, Laurel Klein sets aside one “mitzvah share,” assembles a small cooking team, and prepares meals for members to deliver to other members who are facing medical challenges, returning home from the hospital, in mourning, have just had a baby, or are in some way vulnerable.  Thank you to Laurel and the team for drastically increasing the food and frequency of the Caring Community impact!  In every meal they provide healthy nourishment, compassion and connection!  

Comfort, comfort my people, says Isaiah in last week’s Haftarah portion, from Shabbat Nachamu.  Why, some ask, does he repeat the word comfort twice? The medieval commentators have their take on the question.  For our congregation, perhaps, the first comfort speaks of the way our community members reach out to one another with compassionate words: a card, a phone call.  And the second comfort speaks of the actions we can sometimes identify that will be helpful in times of needs.  To all of the many congregants providing these kinds of comfort and more, thank you for helping our congregation feel more and more like and extended family.  And to all of the many congregants who have found themselves in vulnerable times (as we all are from time to time), thank you for accepting a caring word or meal.  Your courageous openness helps to deepen our connections with one another and make this community more meaningful.