This Passover will be an opportunity to confront our emotions and anxieties of the past 6 months as we consider liberation, freedom, and joy this spring.
In Prayer Lab, on 4/20 we will have a special session reviewing the Haggadah as we prepare for the holiday. It’s a perfect opportunity to bring new insights to your seder tables! Additionally, we will have a Family Seder for religious school families and friends on Sunday, 4/21, and on Friday, 4/26 we will host our Community Seder.

Below is my Passover column for the Record-Courier this weekend:
For Muslims, Jews and Christians, our spring holiday this year feels different. Spring is bursting out everywhere in Northeast Ohio. Many of us spent time witnessing the drama and impact of the eclipse last week. The natural world was announcing itself to us all as a deep, unbounded source of holiness.
However, the celebration of the holiday of Passover, a festival of liberation, seems confined by the effects of the war in Gaza and Israel. My heart breaks again and again for the trauma experienced by both sides in this terrible war. Hostages are waiting to be freed from their confinement. Gazans encountered much of Ramadan from the perspective of starvation and near famine. We have witnessed shatterings that have devastated our perspectives.
It’s hard to find a reason to celebrate. It’s hard to sing songs of freedom right now. And yet, taking a clue from our Muslim and Christian neighbors, this is a time to come together in community. In community, we can experience our sense of holiness in our shared space, and a deep sense of getting out of our own heads.
A colleague and friend of mine, Rabbi Sharon Brous has a wonderful new book called, “The Amen Effect.” Her idea is that we live in a time of profound brokenness and that connecting with our spiritual communities can help us cope with the emotions and anxieties of these difficult times. She uses the example of the mourner’s prayer in Jewish services, which concludes every Jewish prayer service. She writes that when the mourners rise for that prayer they are symbolically letting their community know that they have suffered a significant loss, and we, the community, are being asked to hold them. We can do that by saying “amen” to their statements of grief.
So as we gather in our homes and in our community for Passover next week, may we celebrate the unmitigated joy of spring, and may we be able to bring our tears and anxieties to our community so they can say “amen” to our pain. May we each hold two cups at our holiday gatherings, one overflowing with wine and joy, and the second cup overflowing with tears of sadness and grief.
May we cultivate the humility to get past our own pride and arrogance as we greet Passover this year. During this time of uncertainty, may we lean into humility. May we discover the questions we need to ask at our Passover seders this year, and may we hear the questions others have to ask as well. May our Passover point us to paths of holiness, meaning, and eventual freedom.

Religious School Updates

– We have begun advertising for a new education director for next fall. Please let us know if you know anyone who might be interested! We have formed a search committee for this opening, and will be sharing info and details in the weeks to come.

– All religious school families, parents of small kids, and community members are invited to our Family Seder on Sunday 4/21 at 11:00 am!

From the Boardroom 
June Annual Meeting to be held on Friday, June 14.

James Field and Laurie Frankino complete their two-year term as co-presidents on June 30. James will transition to Immediate Past President and will assume the position of Treasurer, currently held by Jonathan Selinger who is retiring from the board. Laurie will also become a Past President and will continue her role as Ritual Chair.
The voluntary position of President of TBS calls for one person or a team of 2 to lead the TBS Board of Trustees in all matters pertaining to the welfare of the temple. For the next fiscal year, July 1, 2024-June 30, 2025, Past President, Larry Terkel has volunteered to take responsibility as president once again. Larry will use his vast experience working with our temple community and his relationships in the Hudson and Cleveland communities to continue the good works accomplished by the current board of Trustees. As our constitution states, Larry, and the rest of the slate of officers will be voted in during the Annual Meeting to be held on Friday, June 14.

The TBS Board of Trustees welcomes your questions, comments and suggestions. Please feel free to contact co-presidents James jdfield23@aol.com or Laurie lfrankino@gmail.com

Judaism 101 – 12 Sunday afternoons (3/3-5/12 at 4:00 pm)
Have you ever wanted to learn more about Judaism from an adult perspective?
Are you considering conversion to Judaism?

If so, this class can form a great foundation to get you started. We will focus on Jewish history, holidays, ideas and traditions.
There will be a few paperback books as part of the class as well.

• Class fees – $10 for TBS members or $56 for the entire course, $18 per class non-members or $154 for the entire course. College students can pay a donation. (Fees for the class will go to pay our zoom manager/teaching assistant.)
• RSVPS are needed in advance. Please email rabbimichaelross to RSVP or get more info and syllabus. 

Donations to support Israel can be made at
Cleveland Federation: 

  ISRAEL EMERGENCY CAMPAIGN