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 by Rebbetzin Malkah Forbes
Seattle, WA
"On many paths, I have walked,
To search for truth.
I did not hesitate to feast on the delicacy of sin.
We did not find ourselves, the lies have no more taste.
This culture is not for us, for there is fire in our hearts.
For I am the smallest and lowest of all, standing here trembling and amazed....
For You are holy,
And Your name is holy,
Holy ones praise You all day, Amen."
"Atah Kadosh" by Adi Ran
Countless expeditions have been made around the Sinai Wilderness, searching for and claiming the mountain that is Sinai. But even if we find it and we climb the rocks, rest ourselves on it and contemplate its meaning, will it really matter? Will it stir up some special emotion and fill us with overwhelming holiness and motivation? Will we feel the quake under our feet as it quaked so long ago when the Torah was imparted to our people? Probably not. And even if it did, the sensation would only last for a while. Instead, we need to realize that, regardless of where Mount Sinai truly is in the wilderness, we need to hitch up the essence of the Mount Sinai experience and drive it around daily. What is that essence? Holiness.
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2008 Prayer Theme: Honoring the Past, Embracing the Future
When Spring approaches, many of us think of Passover and its familiar customs-cleaning the house to get rid of all leaven, preparing a big meal for family and friends, sitting down together to retell the Passover story, and eating matzah for eight days. One custom found in the Bible is not so familiar, though. During Passover, the Israelites were to begin counting off seven weeks to arrive at the date for Shavuot, or Pentecost, the festival of Weeks. This 49-day period is a time of spiritual anticipation and prayer, called sefirat ha-omer, or counting the omer, the grain offering mentioned in Leviticus 23:15-17.
Jewish tradition has kept this practice alive ever since the destruction of the temple, and in recent years, the UMJC family has made this tradition our own, as we have joined in 49 days of unified prayer during this period. This year, counting the omer begins on Sunday evening, April 20 and concludes Saturday evening, June 7. The next day, Sunday, June 8, is Erev Shavuot, the eve of Shavuot, the holiday celebrating God's gift of the Torah at Sinai, and the outpouring of the Spirit upon the followers of Yeshua centuries later. UMJC congregations and supports will pray together throughout this period, which will culminate in a Shavuot offering that will be sent up to the land of Israel. In fact, since our annual conference this year takes place in Israel, we will be able to bring the offering in person. The theme of the prayer campaign reflects the UMJC conference theme of Come Home Again: Honoring the Past; Embracing the Future. Israel is the place of our biblical past, homeland of the Jewish people, and site of the holy temple and the life, death, and resurrection of Messiah. Israel is also the place of the future, where the Jewish story and the Yeshua story will together reach their completion.
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