By Rabbi Paul Kipnes

Jews are called to the beach. Reflective readers of Torah recognize the deep connections between our Jewish people and the sand on the seashore.

Our people gained a future as God promised our ancestor Abraham that his offspring would be as numerous as the sand on the seashore (Genesis 22:17, and then again in Genesis 32:13. With those promises, God also foreshadowed our eternality as a people, able to flourish throughout time. Amongst the sands, we found a future.

When we walked forth, out of the oppression of Egypt, we traversed great distances to arrive first at Yam Suf (the Red Sea). There, on the seashore, terrified by the army of Pharaoh that was pursuing us, we cried out. Then, one of us, Nachshon, with nearly incomprehensible courage, walked into the waters until they rapidly receded, allowing Nachshon, and eventually our entire people, to walk forward on a dry land. At the seashore we found fortitude for the future.

As Rabbi David Zauderer illuminated, Jews are like the sand. Each granule of sand, when on its own, gets blown around by the wind and kicked around by those of us walking on it. Yet when mixed with a lifegiving force, like water, the individual granules of sand become a single unit, strong enough and powerfully able to create amazing sandcastles in the world. The same is true with our Jewish people. On our own, we are easily tossed around, by the windy words of Jew-hatred. But when we are bound together through the words of Torah and the kedusha (holiness) of kehilla (community), our achdut (unity) and resilience exceeds even the power of water to erode the earth. At the seashore, we will remember we have a timeless resilience.

Rabbi Julie Hilton Danan, (aka The Nature Rabbi), explains that on a spiritual level, the depth, power, and mystery of the ocean evoke our awe and open us to a state of wonder more readily than almost anywhere else on earth.

Thus Congregation Or Ami gathers at the seashore, on Friday, July 19^th, to recount our Jewish story, to remember that we count (as Jews and Jewish families), to rediscover the resilience within, and to remember that in community we can conquer the challenges confronting us.

Bring your beach chairs or blanket, a delicious dinner, a sweatshirt for when it gets cooler, and an openness to organize your soul around the spiritual journey of our people. Looking forward to seeing you there.