December 31, 2020

Dear Temple Sinai of Lake Charles and Friends,

As the first day of the new secular year fast draws near, we hold each and every one
of y’all so very close in our hearts and our prayers.

First, we pray so deeply that 2021 will overflow with the blessings of health and healing for
us all, we have cherished members who have undergone surgery and lengthy
hospital stays.  Others of our beloved congregation have been ill for extended days at home
or in other facilities.  May this new secular year bring each of them continuing and complete
Recovery as quickly as possible. We pray that our family members who are primary caregivers for their loved ones will be blessed with continuing strength, stamina, perseverance and optimism.

Second, we pray for Refuah Sh’laymah, Complete Recovery, from the Virus. May our Lake Charles and Region, our Louisiana, and our world reach that day when the dangers of Virus shall have been
Fully Conquered.

Third, we look forward with hope and optimism to the continuing repair of so very many
of our homes and offices which have been so heavily damaged or destroyed by Hurricanes
Laura and Delta.  This rebuilding effort has taken so much of our energy and has been a real
Challenge to our own sense of equanimity and patience.   Still, we pray deeply that all of us will look to 2021 as the Year of Rebuilding and Restoration when we shall have succeeded in all our repair efforts.

Fourth, many of our members continue in evacuation.  This is such a heavy challenge in every
imaginable way.  Traveling daily back and forth between locations distant from Lake Charles
takes such a toll.  May all of our evacuees find the courage and strength for meeting their daily
responsibilities of work and home.

Fifth, our beloved Temple Sinai facility itself!  How earnestly we look forward to the day when
we shall all come together once again in our precious Sanctuary, Social Hall and Building.

Sixth and in a certain sense perhaps just as important as everything we have noted, is the
Repair of our own Neshama, our own inner Soul. Even though we have been masking,
doing our best to isolate, hand wash and social distance, we trust that we have not lost our
own sense of ourselves as precious children of G-d.  We believe that Ha Shem has been with us
and Working through the loving hands of our doctors, nurses, surgeons, medical staff and
researchers through the secular year now ending.

So often we have looked in the mirror at ourselves in masks and had to stop for a moment to
remember our face!

As we look upon family, friends and neighbors in masks, it’s too easy to
forget the individual, precious beauty and sanctity of everyone.

May we always treasure and cherish the sanctity of each of our lives, the beauty of our Neshama, our Soul.  May we always sense the Divine within us, and all around us, helping us to restore not only our properties but also our own inner selves.

One of our favorite Hebrew phrases with which personal letters often conclude is
Chol Tuv.

Literally these two small words mean „Everything Good.“

We believe these two little words really represent so much more for us all
at this time.

Chol Tuv for us is the Fervent hope, wish and prayer that we shall all be
blessed with overflowing cups of life in
202l.  We are confident that everything that comes our way will be blessed by the
Source of Blessings, that all difficulty shall be the less difficult because G-d will
be with us in every way, as we reach out to help and support one another.

Happy 2021 Temple Sinai and Friends!  May this truly be a Better Year!

CHOL TUV!
With loving blessings,

Joel and Rabbi Barry

_______________________________________________________________________

 

I have recorded my first weekly Wednesday Words!
These brief videos of 2-3 minutes will hopefully be the source
Of Hope and Optimism.

You can find the first video on our You Tube Channel,
temple-sinai.tv

With loving blessings always,
Rabbi Barry