A Moment in Time: “What Can it Mean to Celebrate a Life Moment?”

Do adults create meaningful opportunities when we honor life moments?

[additional-authors]

Rabbi Zach Shapiro

September 6, 2023

Dear all,

Maya and Eli turned four this week! FOUR!!! We planned well in advance to make the day special, and their anticipation was huge!

I love imbuing our kids with this enthusiasm. It also makes me think…. Do adults create meaningful opportunities when we honor life moments?

Certainly, many milestones are built into our Jewish calendar:

Baby naming/ bris

Birthday

B. Mitzvah

Confirmation

Wedding

Yahrzeit

But what about the stuff in between? Imagine the rituals we can create when we move, when we change jobs, when we retire. Imagine the joy we can experience with each personal accomplishment!

(Look … I feel accomplished when I change a light bulb!)

Rosh HaShanah is coming up. We honor this New Year as a people. So now is a good moment in time to take our your calendars and find three dates over that next year that you want to celebrate.

What is the occasion?

How will you honor it?

And who will be surrounding us (in body and in spirit) when we do?

With love and Shalom,

Rabbi Zach Shapiro

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