Torah Portion:  Tol'dot;  Genesis 25:19 - 28:9

When I was growing up, my mother used to make corned beef and cabbage every St. Patrick's Day.  I am not sure how this became a family tradition, but my mom always claimed we did it in honor of a distant Irish relative.

Many years ago, however, my mom became an adult Bat Mitzvah, and after that event she stopped making corned beef and cabbage and started making lentil stew.  Why lentil stew, you ask?

Because her Bat Mitzvah Torah portion was Tol'dot--this week's portion--in which we read that Esau sells his birthright to his younger brother Jacob for a pot of lentil stew.  In honor of her Bat Mitzvah--and in honor of the growing importance of Judaism in her life--my mom started making lentil stew this week, every year.  As a result, I feel a special connection with this week's Torah portion.  

Perhaps this personal portion connection helps explain why I feel such a sense of "bashert" as this Shabbat draws closer.  I am so looking forward to the Installation tomorrow night, and am touched and overwhelmed at how hard and beautifully so many people have worked to make it such a special event--both for me and for Temple Sinai.  This community has quickly become "my home," and I am honored to be installed here.  If someone ever asked me if I would trade what I have now for something else, I would quickly answer, "not even for a pot of lentil stew!"

For more insight on this week's Torah portion, visit
urj.org/torah.

Shabbat Shalom 
Rabbi Annie