Posted on January 2, 2018 by Sarah Gluck, Director of Education
Did you finish your homework? Practice piano? Hurry, we’ll be late to soccer! Don’t forget to pack for the school trip! Got the right backpack?!
Sound familiar? The average week is so full of activity—school and homework, sports, music lessons, play rehearsals, scouts…the list goes on and on. There’s also Sunday school, Hebrew school, and other temple activities. Volunteering and community service. Time to visit with extended family and to enjoy being at home with your own family. Time to nourish oneself with exercise, a homecooked meal, a good book, a daydream…
Time to create, learn, and grow. Time. Time. Time. There never seems to be enough of it.
It’s enough to leave one breathless.
And with all that, there’s still something else to fit in. At first, it may feel like just another activity to schedule, but it turns out to be a gift. That something is worship. Please stay with me here.
A simple shift in perspective can help us view coming to services not as an activity to cram into the week, for which we need to “find time,” but as an opportunity for a time-out from the week’s frenetic pace. Yes, getting to temple can be a challenge. It’s not always easy to gather yourself or your family, and inclement weather, admittedly, can be a deterrent. But once you’re here, sitting with your community in our beautiful sanctuary, you can slow down, take a deep breath, hear the music, engage with the words, and find some Shabbat peace. Worship calms the mind and nourishes the soul, and connects us to one another in a way unlike any other.
So, come whenever you can. Decide which service or services you’ll attend this month. Start with once a month, then see where it takes you. It won’t be too long before coming to services becomes a necessary part of your being, instead of something for which you feel you need to find the time.
L’shalom,
Sarah Gluck
Originally published in the January-February 2018 Shofar. For more issues of the Shofar, visit the Shofar archives.
