Barukh attah Adonai, eloheinu melekh ha-olam, ha-gomel l’chayvim tovot, she g’malani kol tov.
Praised are you Adonai, Sovereign of the universe, who graciously bestows favor among the undeserving, even as He has bestowed favor upon me.
This is the blessing that we say when we have escaped from a dangerous situation- a blessing that I am hopeful many of us can say after successfully weathering Hurricane Irene. Although this berakha is traditionally recited in synagogue with a communal response, I invite each of you to take a moment at some point today to say this berakha if you feel that it is appropriate.
While many of us are thankful for our well-being this morning, there was also a tremendous amount of destruction that accompanied this storm. As Jews, we have an obligation to help those less fortunate to the best of our ability. And although the task of helping others in the aftermath of this Hurricane may seem overwhelming, our tradition wisely reminds us that while “we are not obligated to complete the task, but neither are we free to ignore it (Pirkei Avot 2:21).”
To that end, I encourage all of you to take a moment to make a donation to help those in need. I know that the Red Cross is set up for this (www.redcross.org) and you may also want to check out Nechama, a Jewish organization dedicated to providing cleanup and recovery assistance to homes and communities affected by natural disaster (www.nechama.org).
Stay safe. Please feel free to call the synagogue if you feel that we can help in any way (732) 531-4410.
Also, if you send an e-mail to the synagogue, please be aware that our internet service is down. We will do our best to get back to you as quickly as possible.