20/21 March 2026, 2 Nisan 5786

This week, we begin the book of Leviticus. It is often seen as the driest of the five books, the one centred on priesthood, community, worship and the mechanics of gathering. Yet its minutiae – how to slaughter, the rules of sacrifice and how to create an offering, the rules of priesthood, of how to make amends and how to look after homes – all speak to a level of detail and care that we still cling to today (even without the priests, the sacrifices, and the blood).

I have watched the beauty of our new building unfold and the attention to detail therein is paying off. It makes us love the synagogue more and feel its love in return. Every meal we have shared, every table we have set, and every kiddush we have eaten, tastes all the better for the care we have lavished upon it. The new windows, the wooden shutters enclosing our kitchen and the curated plates and cups all point to our love for FPS at 54, Hutton Grove. The fact that fifty of you showed up on Tuesday night for security training with CST also points to that same love.

A poem by Anne Sexton, important to me during rabbinic training, comes to mind as we begin the ‘minutiae of care’ laid out in Leviticus:

There is joy
in all:
…in the chapel of eggs I cook
each morning,
in the outcry from the kettle
that heats my coffee
each morning,
in the spoon and the chair
that cry “hello there, Anne”
each morning,
in the godhead of the table
that I set my silver, plate, cup upon
each morning.

All this is God,
right here in my pea-green house
each morning
and I mean,
though often forget,
to give thanks,
to faint down by the kitchen table
in a prayer of rejoicing…. So while I think of it,
let me paint a thank-you on my palm
for this God, this laughter of the morning,
lest it go unspoken. (Anne Sexton)

Last week, I spoke to my friend and colleague in Israel, Rabbi Chen ben Tsfoni. She leads Beit Samueli in Ra’anana, a wonderful synagogue that has benefited from this same communal love and care. Solidarity with our colleagues and fellow Progressive communities in Israel is critical at this time. We have planned an online Havdalah moment to share together around Pesach (look out for details).

Shabbat Shalom,
Rebecca