Dear Lab/Shul,

It’s hard to know what to write as we begin this new year. Certainly, I wish for it to be happy, and healing, and yet I know that so many of us are beginning this year with uncertainty, with grief, with anger, fear and pain. What’s the salutation for that?

I find myself thinking about the way I sometimes close a letter when I’m writing in a Jewish context: l’shalom, often translated “in peace,” but more literally “toward peace.” Or, depending on your definition, toward wholeness, or completion.

When we gather, I believe we do move, in the smallest way, toward peace. When we listen to one another, I believe our capacity for completion grows. When we reckon with ourselves, with each other, and with our tradition, something broken can perhaps become whole again.

We begin this new year with a unique online opportunity to gather for peace. Co-led by Rabbi Amichai, we will gather this coming Sunday with the Sulha Peace Project to be in dialogue with Palestinian and Israeli peacemakers committed to change, healing and hope. Please join us at 1pm ET for an hour of at least a taste of hope. 

In keeping with our uniquely Lab/Shul thematics, here’s how we will continue to gather in 2024. All program details will be listed on our online calendar.

January calendar

WHAT’S NEXT?

We encourage you to gather… with us: your Lab/Shul community where everyone is always welcome. As we look ahead to this month, we invite you to Sing. Move. Pray. Witness. With us:

May our gathering in each of these spaces, and the work it urges us toward in the world outside, open up the possibility of peace.

Shabbat L’Shalom,

Ben Freeman,
Associate Clergy