Rabbi's Message

Ah, the joys of summer. The sun finally bursts through the omnipresent cloud layer, warming the earth and our souls together. Here in Eugene the summer months are the long-awaited reason for our continued tolerance of the winter dreariness. Once again we smile, we stretch, we feel alive.

The summer is, for us, a time of paradoxes. On nature=s calendar it is a time of pleasure and leisure. On our calendar we are confronted with our history, only to rediscover that the summer brings with it memories of tragedies past, and of challenges present.

On Tuesday July 22nd falls the fast of the 17th of Tammuz. The events of that day, so many years ago, marked the beginning of the end of our ancient national residence in the Holy City of Jerusalem. The walls were breached and it was only a matter of time until the Temple would be attacked, entered, violated and destroyed. That final destruction, along with so many others throughout the millennia, is marked on Tisha B=Av, this year falling on Tuesday August 12th.

The summer is also a time of opportunities. Not only can we take to the great outdoors for some well-deserved R & R, we have some extra time for spiritual matters as well. If the pace of our business and material life slows down somewhat, it is a great time to Apick up the pace@ in the religious realm.

One of the truly wonderful aspects of our community life is the growing amount of Torah study being done. There are chavrusas at the Shul learning Mishna in the early morning and Jewish Thought in the afternoon. We have a Kabbalah group, a Talmud class, and a women=s group that all meet regularly. People are learning the Parshah at home and Mussar during their breaks at work. One young man is spending his vacation at a Jewish adult education camp out east. So many of the Hillel students who spent their Shabbosim at the Minyan and at our Shabbos tables are taking off to spend a year studying in Israel. Our library is growing and being used more and more. Our extensive tape library, with superb lectures by internationally-renown thinkers, is available to all. Many of us receive Divrei Torah on the Parshat HaShavuah via the Internet, and we take a moment on Shabbos morning before kiddush to study the laws of Lashon HaRah.

AMah Ahavti Torasechah! Hi Sichasi Kol HaYom! How I love Your Torah! I speak it all day long!@ Torah study is the very foundation of all Judaism. The reward for Talmud Torah is equal to that of all the other mitzvos combined. When we spend the time to delve into the concepts that inform Halacha and Mussar, our practice becomes so much richer and our Mitzvos so much more meaningful. We connect with our incredible intellectual and spiritual history and discover the power of authentic Jewish scholarship and practice.

This summer we are blessed to have a number of wonderful opportunities to enhance our Torah learning. B=ezrat HaShem we will have the honor of hosting a number of Rabbis who will be visiting for Shabbosim and serving as scholars-in- residence. Furthermore we will be hosting a SEED program, the fantastic Torah Umesorah program wherein a Yeshiva couple and a few bachurim will come to Eugene for over two weeks to teach and to study together with us. These visits - described in more detail inside - are unbelievable opportunities for us to have the kind of Torah learning that enhances our Jewish lives. These are individuals who are making themselves into wellsprings of Jewish wisdom and who will be sharing that wisdom with us. I know that we will all want to take advantage of these fantastic opportunities and to meet and learn with these scholars.

Please take a look inside at the articles telling about the visits and mark your calendar. This is a summer at the Minyan not to be missed!

Rabbi Efraim Davidson