Beth Shalom of Whittier
Progressive Conservative Judaism
Hazzan Lance H Tapper, Hon DMus
Notes From the Hazzan
​Dear Friends,
This month we will continue our Shabbat afternoon Lunch and Learn series that began so successfully last summer with my session on the Jewish perspective of Abortion and the beginning of life. On February 25, we will hear from Rebeca Orantes, a member of the Guatemalan Jewish community, who will speak to us about her life and community in Guatemala. We will have a lunch brought in for us as did the last time and hear her very timely words in the face of world-wide antisemitism. There will also be a question-and-answer period following her presentation for those in attendance to ask Rebeca questions about her study here and her life back home. We hope you will want to join us for this very special event.
And, as we move from Tu Bishvat, the remembrance of the New Year for trees, at the end of last month, toward Purim at the beginning of next month, we see a sense of forward movement out of the cold of winter toward the rebirth and renewal of Spring that will soon follow. The minor festivals give us pause to remember our traditions even when the weather suggests a more inward journey, with both of these we leave home and plant and tend and then rejoice and celebrate all that nature and then redemption from evil teach us.
-Hazzan Lance H. Tapper, Hon DMus