Rabbi's Teachings

Almost five years down. Wow!

July 1st I will be starting my sixth year as rabbi of Bnai Israel Congregation. So much has changed, and yet we still remain the vibrant, caring community that stole my heart at first phone call in April of 2020. The past five years we have spent becoming more polished, on the inside and outside, more efficient, and more welcoming. Over numbers have grown significantly and our new renovation projects are a testament to that growth.

Reflecting on what it means to be coming up on my sixth year, I am thinking about the 6th day of creation. 

וַיַּ֤רְא אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־כׇּל־אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֔ה וְהִנֵּה־ט֖וֹב מְאֹ֑ד וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם הַשִּׁשִּֽׁי׃

And God saw all that had been made, and found it very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

For 5 days God had made a foundation and on the 6th day God finally filled it with God’s most complicated creation to date–humanity. God handed over the keys to the kingdom with a hearty “Good Luck, y’all!” before signing off the next day for a siesta.

Rashi points out that in the Hebrew there is an extra letter before the word “sixth” that doesn’t occur in the other rendering of the days. That letter is “hey”, meaning “the”. All other days are listed as “Day one, Day two, etc”, as opposed to the very formal rendering of “The Sixth Day”.

This is because, Rashi posits, God is talking about another future sixth day:

THE SIXTH DAY — The whole Creation (the Universe) stood in a state of suspense (moral imperfection) until the sixth day — that is, the sixth day of Sivan which was destined to be the day when the Torah would be given to Israel (Avodah Zara 3a).

On the sixth day of creation human beings are made. Their true purpose and destiny, however, will not be realized until the sixth day of Sivan, far off in the future, when the Torah will be given to Israel. This day is celebrated every year as the holiday of Shavuot. On Shavuot, God truly entered into Divine relationship with the people of Israel.

Now, God knows I am a mere mortal and by no means am making these connections other than for the sake of illustrative metaphor. For five years, we have built a great foundation together. We have had an incredibly successful year on every front–programmatically to financially. We are already well into planning an even greater 2025/2026 programmatic year.  I have also noticed that as we grow, we can sometimes grow cranky with one another–we call that growing pains. Many times this year I have had to remind people that everyone here still has all of the best intentions at heart to make this a warm and welcoming community. But the more cooks in the kitchen, the more overwhelming it feels to cook.

Next time you are in the building–stop and take a look around. Literally. 

Look at our bulletin board, filled with many exciting upcoming events. Look at the walls, covered in class work from the Hebrew School Students. Look outside at our newly installed playground set to round out the fabulous and well-loved swings. Show up to an event you do not usually show up to. Feel the lifepulse of this community. 

I want to charge us with two tasks as we enter both the holiday of Shavuot and my sixth year:

First, to attend all Shavuot events this year and feel your own sense of Divine relationship renewed with God.

Second, to use this upcoming fiscal year to enter into a Divine relationship with someone who just frustrates the heck out of you. To really get to know them and what they are about. To truly see all the contributions they make to our BIC family and how this institution would not be the same without them.

Thank you, Holy Community, for continuing to trust in me and allowing me the honor of serving you for this upcoming sixth year. 

L’Shalom,

Rabbi Bender