- This event has passed.
Torah study | Noach 5785
November 2 @ 9:30 am - 12:30 pm PDT
Shabbat Services and & Torah Study: Noach
Saturday, Nov. 2nd
Emeryville, CA & online
9:30am Shabbat service // 10:30am Torah study
{You can watch Rabbi Cat’s brief exploration of Parshat Noach and Shabbat invite here.}
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 this week
In last week’s parsha, Bereshit (you can listen to Rabbi Cat’s musings on Bereshit here, God calls forth the creation of the universe with all its diversity and magnificence, including human beings. But something goes horribly wrong and human beings become infused with wickedness. God wants to blot out all human beings, except Noach, in whom God finds favor. Strangely, God is so angry, God plans to wipe out all life on earth. (A rather drastic response!) Noach, we are told, is righteous and blameless for his generation. He walked with God. Who are the righteous amongst us today? Who walks with God and what does that entail?
This parsha contains two major acts of upheaval and destruction. The first is the flood, in which all life forms, except that which Noach takes into his ark with him, are destroyed. The second is the spreading out of all human beings throughout the planet. In both instances, human beings seem to have lost a sense of appreciation of the world which we inhabit and one another. Rather than strive to enhance diversity, it seems that human beings prefer to speak in only one language. God wants nothing of that. God wants diversity. We are facing today incredible natural catastrophes and also social and political upheaval throughout the world. What can we glean from our parsha that might help us today?
We’d love to have you join us!
9:30 am Pacific Time (12:30 pm Eastern Time)
Shabbat morning prayers and celebration of the universe
10:30 am Pacific Time (1:30 pm Eastern Time)
Torah Study
12:15 pm Pacific Time (3:15 pm Eastern Time)
Kaddish, Kiddush, and vegetarian potluck for those able to join us in person!
*Please save this link for information on upcoming Torah Study and Special Events