The Little Minyan Kehilla holds many Jewish principles near and dear to our hearts,
many aspects of our individualities which we bring to our sense of being B’nei Yisrael ~ of the Children of Israel, the Jewish People. If someone asks for a description of our kehilla and its members, an “elevator speech” always includes creativity, inclusivity, social justice initiatives, healthy, local food, musical worship, and care for the environment among our defining characteristics.
This week in the cycle of Torah, we begin a new book, the fourth – called “Numbers” in English. And as with each of the five books of Torah, the parasha ha’shavua ~ Torah
portion for this week takes the name of the book it begins: Bamidbar ~ in the wilderness. Parashat Bamidbar opens with the the Ineffable Name (יהוה) which we so often call God telling Moses, in the wilderness of the Sinai desert, to once again take a census of the Children of Israel according to their
mishp’chot
, their families, by the number of their
sheimot
, their names, and by their
tziva’ot
, their legions.
As our kehilla entered this week, we too took a census. We held a community meeting to “count” our families and our individuals. We counted by numbers, and we counted by actions, resources, aspirations, and gratitudes. We counted our substance ~ what makes us sacred and what we wish to do better in the coming cycle of time. We talked about who we are individually and as a kehilla, and as part of k’lal Yisrael, all of our People.
The Little Minyan began eight years ago as an experiment in grass-roots Jewish community-creation and care. Today, as we continue our journey b’midbar/in the wilderness, we count our blessings that
kol-adat
, our entire assembly (as God refers to us in Parshat Bamidbar 1:2) is energized and full of hope for the continuing journey.
For stories about our individual and collective experiences of The Little Minyan, click on the new section of our website, under Who We Are , entitled Our Stories .
Artwork, bottom left is that of Tamar Messer, an amazing Israeli artist whom I met over a decade ago. Her work can be found on her website .
