...no one could have imagined...- Rabbi Barry Lutz
Many years ago, I was involved in the development of a strategic plan whose end point was 2020! With all the wisdom, clarity and foresight we shared, no one could have imagined this 2020! I can imagine our patriarch Joseph saying the same about the events of his life. Born a favored son, sold into slavery by his brothers, imprisoned in Egypt and then becoming the seond most powerful person in the world. Who could have foreseen that? I’m certain none of this was in Joseph’s strategic plan. There was so much for which he could have remained bitter. We would certainly understand had he hated his brothers for the pain that they had caused him. And yet, Joseph is able to find the light, even in the midst of all the darkness he experienced. “God sent me ahead of you to assure your survival,” he remarkably tells his brothers.
As we come to the conclusion of 2020, with a light shining on a distant horizon, perhaps we can learn from Joseph’s remarkable perspective. May we too enter this new year with a sense of the strength and the blessings that we have discovered in this most difficult year. And as we strategize our new beginning, let us not forget that most famous Yiddish adage: “Mann Tracht, Un Gott Lacht.” Man plans and God laughs.
I pray that 2021 be a year of healing and repair as we take the lessons learned and transform them into a source of hope and blessing in the year ahead.
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Wilshire University Film Society Discussion with Jim Ruxin Shabbat, Jun 26th 7:30p to 8:30p Winter Journey (2020)
Saturday, June 26 at 7:30 p.m.
A drama done in a verite style, starring Bruno Ganz. Based on a true story, Ganz's character barely escaped Nazi Germany with his wife. His American born "son" interviews him 50 years later about that past. It explains much about a survivor's hesitancy to share his trauma with the next generations.
Free Vimeo link will be available on June 23-26
