May 2015

Dear Friends,

As I shared with many of you at our mid-April service, Jeremy and I are overjoyed to report that we are expecting a baby girl, due October 2^nd.

For the months before I shared the news, I spent much of my time at synagogue observing our Sha’arei Shalom families and imagining being a parent. Amidst my mix of excitement and fear at the huge changes afoot, watching your families eased my anxieties. I want to share some of what I noticed.

I noticed the way parents blessed their children, how you lay your hands on their heads and looked at them with deep love.

I noticed the way that parents pulled over other people’s kids when they were running around like maniacs, and whispered for them to slow down. I loved the way that our community is like one big family, where everyone takes care of everyone else.

I noticed on our school-participation Shabbat how grandparents looked at their grandchildren with awe and pride. When a third-grade boy high-fived his grandfather upon returning to his seat, I thought the grandpa might pass out from happiness.

I noticed the way sometimes little kids in our congregation dance together in the back, sometimes holding hands, sometimes just jumping up and down. And I felt hopeful that our child might experience that kind of joy in Jewish spaces.

I know that parenting isn’t easy, that your kids drive you insane, that you might have moments when you long for the pre-parenting days when your time was your own. But I also know that the love and thoughtfulness I see in our community makes me excited to enter into the crazy journey that is parenthood.

And, I couldn’t think of a better community in which to bring a child into the world and raise her to be a Jew and a mensch.

Warm regards,

Rabbi Margie