Shabbat Services and & Torah Study: Parashat Sh’lach (Numbers 13:1-15:41)
Saturday, June 21st
Emeryville, CA & online
9:30am Shabbat service // 10:30am Torah study
You can join us either in person or on Zoom for Shabbat services and/or Torah study. If you are in the Bay Area, we’d love to have you join us in person. After Torah study, we enjoy a vegetarian potluck meal together and have an opportunity to deepen our connection with one another. If you are able, please bring a vegetarian dish to share with others. For those joining us online, we invite you to also bring food to eat after the service. We will keep the room open so folks can connect with each other after the service.
A peek into Torah study with us and the parsha reading this week:
In this week’s parsha, God tells Moses to send 12 scouts to survey the land. Moses shares God’s instructions. May God’s message have been misunderstood? The scouts come back with mixed reports. Most are terrified of what they see–the people are giants and we are mere grasshoppers. Two, Joshua and Caleb, reassure the people that the land is filled with abundance and the people aren’t so immense. What’s going on? Is this the moment when the former Israelite slaves prove to God that they lack the courage to enter the Promised Land, or are they are war resisters? Is their response one of surplus powerlessness or a response to a higher ethos?
How does this story in this parsha play out today? And can we imagine a different reality? Can this parsha help us imagine a different way of seeing and engaging with the land and people who inhabit it?
Accessibility:
- Masking optional
- Air filter provided; windows can be opened on request.
- Not wheelchair accessible—4 steps into the home, 4 to the backyard.
- Seating includes couches, chairs, and floor pillows.
- Services may be held outdoors (weather permitting); please dress accordingly.
- Please avoid scented products.
- No shoes indoors, if possible.
- Indoor and outdoor space available for eating.
- A cat lives in the home. A retriever/labrador dog lives in the home but will not be present.