Beineinu - May 2026

A Month of Receiving

We are in the counting. Every night between Pesach and Shavuot,

Jews around the world count a number aloud, marking the journey

from Egypt to Sinai. The counting tells us something true about Jewish

life: freedom by itself is incomplete. We leave Mitzrayim so that we can stand at Sinai, and we stand at Sinai so that we can receive.

May at Temple Beth Sholom is shaped by that arc of receiving. On Thursday, May 21, we will gather for an evening of Shavuot study from 7:00 pm until midnight. In the spirit of the kabbalists of sixteenth-century Tzfat, who stayed up all night on erev Shavuot to prepare themselves the way a bride prepares for her wedding, we will learn together across texts and disciplines. Torah, Talmud, contemporary Jewish thought, and the questions that keep us up anyway. Come for one session or stay for all of them.

May is also the month we begin something new. Starting Tuesday, May 12, and continuing over five sessions, I will be leading a Service Leadership Curriculum designed to train members of our community to lead Erev Shabbat services at Temple Beth Sholom. This is not a course in advanced Judaism or for people who already know everything. It is for any member who wants to take on a deeper role in the worship life of this congregation. Reform Judaism was built on the conviction that the siddur belongs to all of us. We are going to make that mean congregants take a leadership role in prayer. You will find further details in this bulletin.

You will also find a reflection in this bulletin on the Zionist rabbis’ conference I attended this spring. I came home from it clearer about what I believe and more determined about how I want to lead. Some of what I learned I want to share with you, not because I expect you to agree with every word, but because you deserve to know the thinking that shapes your rabbi.

A word finally on Shavuot itself. The midrash teaches that the Torah was given in the wilderness, in a place that belonged to no one, so that no tribe could claim it as their exclusive possession. Torah is ours together, or it is not really ours at all. That is the spirit in which I invite you into this month.

Looking forward to learning with you,

Rabbi Sam Stern