On Sunday 14 September the Women’s League hosted Rebbetzin Via Kimche as guest speaker for this year’s annual pre-Rosh Hashanah Women’s Shiur. Here, thanks to our member Dr Pessy Krausz, is a short summary of her message.
Right: Rebbetzin Kimche, together with her husband Rabbi Alan Kimche
Via’s presentation combined elegance with eloquence, opened with an account of Malchuyot, giving us an insight into kingship as we should recognize it: we feel we are organising everything but it is Hashem who pulls the strings: “The King of the universe is my boss!”
Next up was Shofarot. This word is connected with the Hebrew word leshaper, to improve. This connotation promotes thoughts of our ongoing efforts at positive personal development.
Then Via spoke of Zichronot – Remembrance. We must remember the fact that each of us carries the genes of our forefathers. Here Via drew on the analogy of Avraham Avinu. She described how, selflessly, he left behind all the creature comforts of his home environment and set off into an unknown world. He did not run from challenges, even when he found the world was in chaos.
Our audience was particularly moved by Via’s depiction of the broken sound of Teruah in terms of shaking. We must learn to absorb the brokenness that this note signifies while still clinging to our emunah, our faith, however much it may be shaken during troubled times.
The Shofar is a messenger, Via explained. Just as the Shofar is in reality nothing but a hollow tube that makes a sound, coming to life as it were, only when someone blows into it, so too is each of us little other than an empty, formless void into which we must instill our own unique qualities. By way of an example, she touchingly pointed to her own husband, none other than Rabbi Alan Kimche!
Via closed her presentation with a heart-warming message. We are greatly supported in our endeavours when we recognize that it is our connection with Hashem that brightens our lives. Even though the world, sadly, is in turmoil, we must keep that connection and stick to our own standards. Her takeaway message is that, as women, we have the ability to create an anchor – an island in the sun – through which we can enrich our community. Our Hanassi women are certainly a shining example of this quality!
Via’s closing message elicited an appreciative round of applause—and she certainly deserved the warm words of gratitude delivered by Avelyn Hass on behalf of the Women’s League and all who were present, thanking our guest speaker for her insights which, this Rosh Hashanah, will greatly contribute to our understanding of the significance of the Shofar.
