Mental health matters. The past year has been tremendously challenging. That takes a toll. As we enter spring, the weather starts to get warmer, the flowers begin to bloom, and as the vaccination rate continues to rise, we can rejoice that families and friends are finally becoming able to see each other in person. If you have not yet gotten a vaccine, every adult over 16 in Michigan will become eligible on Monday. There is a lot that can bring us hope.

I cried both times. But not because it hurt. The City of Detroit is vaccinating clergy, so I got my second COVID vaccine shot this week. And with both shots, the tears came.

The tears came because I recognize that it is a tremendous privilege to be able to get a vaccine and that there are people who will get very sick and people who will die before they can. There has been tremendous injustice in vaccine distribution. Detroit is vaccinating clergy so we can officiate at funerals. There are too many funerals yet to come.

Shabbat Shalom! This Shabbat is known as Shabbat Shira. Shira is the Hebrew word for song or poetry. We refer to this Shabbat as Shabbat Shira because of this Shabbat’s reading from the Torah. In this week’s Torah portion, we will read parshat B’shalakh which contains the Shirat Hayam or Song of the Sea. Moshe, Miryam, and the Children of Israel sang this song after successfully crossing the Sea of Reeds as they fled Egypt and slavery. At the Downtown Synagogue, I am very honored and humbled that Shabbat Shira is also the Shabbat that officially welcomes me to the shul’s staff as the musician in residence.

I want to say thank you to Shifra and Puah. In this week’s Torah portion, which starts the Book of Exodus, these Egyptian midwives defy the will of Pharaoh and save the lives of the babies that he sought to destroy. Their moral courage birthed an Israelite people who were able to move from oppression to freedom.

Happy Gregorian New Year Downtown Synagogue family! I’m very excited for all that 2021 may bring. I hope you and your loved ones are staying safe so we can enjoy this new year together.

This week we read Parashat Vayetzei, which opens with Jacob fleeing from the wrath of his brother Esau, en route to finding safety in the home of his uncle. When the sun starts to set, he stops to rest for the night and has only a stone for a pillow. He has a dream about a ladder, with angels going up and down, and hears the voice of God. He wakes up and says “Truly, God is in this place, and I, I did not know it!”