News from Rabbinate

Some seasons of the year have names. Passover. Shavuot. Rosh Hashanah.

And then there are seasons that are primarily in between. Interval, time of transition.

Yet transitional time is by no means empty time, nor time without purpose. Jewish tradition knows how to sanctify not only summits, but also thresholds. The Rabbis devoted lengthy discussions to a special moment called bein ha-shmashot, literally, between the suns - an elusive interval that is no longer day, yet not quite night; a mythical twilight suspended between worlds, between categories, between certainty and mystery.

Not by coincidence, they taught that it was precisely during this moment of transition: on the eve of the very first Shabbat, just as creation was nearing completion, that some of the most extraordinary things came into being:

“Ten things were created on the eve of the first Sabbath at twilight (bein ha-shmashot): the mouth of the earth (which swallowed Korach), the mouth of the well (the miraculous well in the wilderness), the mouth of the donkey (Balaam’s speaking donkey), the rainbow, the manna, the staff of Moses, the shamir (the legendary worm that cut the Temple stones), the letters, the writing, and the tablets. And some say: also the demons, the grave of Moses, and the ram of Abraham our father.” (Mishna Avot, 5)

Something wondrous happens in moments of in-betweenness. When we loosen our grip on certainty. When we find ourselves between: times, places, between thoughts and stages.

Too often we treat transitional periods as waiting rooms, stretches of time to be endured until “real life” begins again. Jewish tradition offers a different possibility: Precisely in these threshold moments, when certainty gives way to openness, something new can be created. The unexpected can emerge, and miracles can be born.

And this is the blessing I wish for you, dear community, during this season of suspended time: May these six weeks become a kind of bein ha-shmashot for all of us: a twilight time in which unexpected encounters, new insights, and quiet wonders may come into being.

I look forward to seeing you all again in August and hearing about what was born for you in this in-between time.

Wishing you a peaceful and blessed summer.