Laura came to me in tears. The Highland Park shooting was a bit too close to home. Her mother grew up there and she and her brother used to spend summers there with her grandparents when she was a little girl. She could picture herself there.

In the beginning of June, a story came to light about a website called the Mapping Project. It lists almost every Jewish institution in Massachusetts and effectively claims they are each responsible for the continued impasse between the Israelis and Palestinians. The creators of the website have remained anonymous, even as they have created a single address for anyone upset by conditions in the Middle East to conveniently find Jewish organizations in Massachusetts.

Today has not been a good day. I find myself flooded with feelings of fury, sadness, despair, powerlessness, and righteous agency. I am awash with feeling.

Before I begin my formal comments, I would be remiss if I didn’t offer a special thank you to Glen for his service as our president over the past two years. It has been a pleasure partnering with you, Glen; your positive outlook was especially valuable as we navigated our community through the pandemic.

In this week’s Torah reading, we encounter the birkat kohanim, the priestly benediction. I have a deep love for this blessing. Some of that stems from its antiquity: archaeology brought to life a very ancient amulet upon which were inscribed the words of the blessing, rendered here in English: May God Bless you and watch over you. May God make God’s face to shine on you and to be gracious to you. May God lift up God’s face to you and give you peace.

Tomorrow night the holiday of Shavuot begins. Shavuot commemorates matan Torah, the day on which God gave the Torah to the Israelites at the foot of Mount Sinai. The mountain shook and thundered while the people heard the sights and saw the sounds. The term for this is synesthesia, when one sense is perceived through another. We now know that two to four percent of people are synesthetes, individuals who regularly have this sort of sensory experience.

This past week I came across a compelling quote penned by a Benedictine monk, David Steindl-Rast. “Joy is the kind of happiness that doesn't depend on what happens.”