If you could come to Shul only one day a year, which day would it be? You may think this question is only theoretical (unless you are actually coming once a year, in which case you should definitely read on) but this question was a real live query a few hundred years ago. The story was that a Jew had been incarcerated in an anti-Semitic country and was given the right to attend synagogue service only one day a year. He sent his question to the leading Rabbis of the time.

If you were the sage answering the question what would you respond? You’d probably think Yom Kippur or maybe Rosh Hashanna would be best, or how about Passover? Yet none of these were the right answer. The answer was shocking; the day the Jew was told to leave prison and attend services was THAT SAME DAY.

The sages express this principle with the adage; if the potential for a good deed (Mitzva) comes to hand, don’t wait and let it turn sour. We are encouraged to seize the moment, to grab all the potential available to us and use it properly before it is lost. There are constant opportunities for growth at our disposal and we are exhorted to take full advantage of them.

Unfortunately, this isn’t a one way street. If we are ambitious and access the possibilities before us, more possibilities open up; but if we don’t, we become desensitized, and the next time it is even harder to move forward. Let’s try to understand why that is. Imagine it’s your 25th wedding anniversary and your spouse is eagerly waiting to spend time with you to express the love and caring that he/she has for you. After much anticipation for this day, you explain that you are too busy and don’t really have the time or interest to celebrate. We all know that if we ever did such a thing, we’d be sleeping in the dog house and it wouldn’t be so simple to undo all the damage incurred. The same principle applies across the board. When the chance for spiritual growth is at hand, inaction is really negative action; we have to be proactive and do.

I was thinking about this idea now because of all the new possibilities that are before us. We are having exciting services in our beautiful new facility, fantastic social/spiritual Kiddush lunches together every Shabbat, and we are beginning to introduce tremendous new learning opportunities for everyone. Everyone has their own unique portion in the Torah; we just need to uncover it.I’m officially encouraging everyone to take advantage of these opportunities now.

We would love to see you all at any of our new events. If you have some program, class or event in which you would like to participate, please come and speak to me about it. Try our new “Family Night-Out” every Tuesday from 5:30-7:00 pm starting January 22nd; we will be having a delicious dinner followed by exciting educational programs for adults and kids. Look out also for the other great programs coming your way.

-Rabbi Karmi Ingber