Marisa Kaiser
This weekend our community gathers for the Ruby Gala celebrating 40 years of Temple Sinai’s Preschool—a milestone that reminds us how together, we can build the most beautiful things over time.
A teacher once asked her students, “Why do you think the Torah speaks so often about long periods of time – forty days of flooding, forty years in the desert – when something important is happening?” One child shrugged and said, “Maybe it just takes a long time.”
She smiled and told them the story about a gardener who planted two seeds. One sprouted quickly but the second seed did not grow at all. A neighbor suggested that the gardener just pull that one out. But the gardener responded, “You cannot see what it is doing, but beneath the soil it is growing deep roots.” And after a while, the second seed finally broke through and grew into the strongest tree in the garden.
This week in the Torah we finish the book of Exodus with a double Torah portion, Vayakhel-Pikudei. After the journey from slavery into freedom and wandering through the desert, we end this book with the construction of the Tabernacle, which becomes the central place to gather while continuing to wander in the desert and helps shape the Israelites into a people.
The Hasidic teacher Rabbi Mordechai Yosef of Izbica taught that each person focused on their own part of the Tabernacle. Only when everything was assembled did they see how beautifully it all fit together—and realize how deeply each person’s contribution depended on the others.
This teaching feels especially meaningful this week as we join to celebrate 40 years of Temple Sinai’s Preschool. For decades, it has been one of the jewels of Temple Sinai—educating generations of children and welcoming families into Jewish life. Like the builders of the Tabernacle, teachers, parents, leaders, and supporters have each contributed their part. Some efforts have been visible; others happened quietly beneath the surface. But together we have built something extraordinary.
When we finish a book of Torah we say: “Chazak, Chazak, V’nitchazek” – Be strong, be strong, and let us strengthen one another. This Shabbat, as we finish reading the book of Exodus, let’s also mark the past 40 years of Temple Sinai’s Preschool:
Chazak – Be strong for the nurturing Jewish learning environment built over these forty years.
Chazak – Be strong for the teachers, leaders, staff, and parents who have sustained it.
V’nitchazek – And together may we be strengthened as we celebrate this milestone and look ahead to the next forty years of learning and Jewish joy.
Shabbat Shalom!
