Let Me help you

Welcome to Shabbat Awakenings, a weekly reflection as we make our way toward Shabbat. You can listen to it as a podcast HERE.

Anochi Adonai Elohecha.

These three words altered the world view of the former slaves.

I am Adonai, your God

Three potent words inaugurate the Ten Utterances spoken at Sinai.

Some call them the Ten Commandments.

Perhaps made famous by the movie with Charlton Heston? (probably not!)

But they are a declaration not a commandment.

They are words spoken by the Divine to the Jewish people,

each person acknowledged.

In second person singular.

Anochi Adonai Elohecha.

Why do they begin this crucial section of the Torah?

Why are these words at the beginning of what will be carved into the tablets?

They provide no instruction just the emphatic pronouncement

that God is speaking to you.

I am Adonai your God.

You may have thought that the Pharaoh was God.

He made you think that,

but the plagues and the drowning at the sea proved otherwise.

And now you are free from slavery but not from service.

Anochi Adonai Elohecha.

You are not God.  Some Other Being has that distinction.

Rather than humiliation, feel humble.

There is a Power, a Force, a Sacred Presence calling out to you.

I am Adonai your God.

I am the One who brought you out of Egypt.

I am speaking to you, guiding you on a path

where goodness and righteousness are in your power to pursue.

I know Who I Am:  Anochi Adonai Elohecha.

Now it is your turn to figure out

who you are and what kind of person you want to be,

Let Me help you.

Shabbat Shalom!

• Join us tonight for Qabbalat Shabbat at 6:00 p.m. where we welcome author Larry Tye. He will be discussing “Heroes, Villains, and the Jewish Side to Every Story.” Following the service, we will share another virtual oneg. We can pray together HERE on the Temple Israel website, or HERE on Zoom, or even HERE on TI’s Facebook page. Or, just find it all on the website www.tisrael.org/TogetherWithTI .
• Tonight at 5:00 p.m. our littlest congregants join for Tot Rock Shabbat. Join us on Zoom here
• Torah Study engages everyone. We start with a short Shabbat morning service at 9:00 a.m. with Torah reading and then launch into a provocative discussion. To join the conversation interactively, access Zoom HERE. You can also watch HERE on Temple Israel’s website or HERE on TI’s Facebook page.
• Thank Goodness It’s Shabbat takes place at 10:00 a.m. Join us on Zoom here.
• Join us at 8:00 p.m. for Havdalah as we welcome the new week together. Join HERE on Zoom, or watch along on the website HERE, or on Facebook HERE.