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Dear friends,

When we tell the story of freedom, we tell a story that leads us through the wilderness to Sinai. And Sinai obligates us. We became free so many centuries ago: free to love our neighbor as ourselves, free to pursue peace, to pursue justice, free to celebrate our holy times, free to learn, to struggle with our faith, to heal a fractured world. We became free and struggled to maintain that freedom through the centuries so that we could be wildly human – forgiving, loving, compassionate, obligated to something grander and bigger than ourselves. Glorious is the freedom that ties us down to a past, a people, a heritage. Wondrous is a freedom that tethers us to the continuity of the generations, to holiness, to a sense of awe. We don’t really long for a life where anything goes, where wild abandonment leads us away from obligation, from belonging to community, to history, to a collective destiny.

I am honored to announce the publication of my new book Omer: A Counting with an introduction by Rabbi Brian Stoller. There will also be copies in the Temple office and the Sisterhood gift shop. For years you have received daily messages from me during the counting of the Omer. I feel in some ways like we wrote this together. When you get a chance, please 'like' my new Rabbi Karyn Kedar author page https://www.facebook.com/karynkedar or subscribe to my blog on www.karynkedar.com to receive this year’s Omer messages. Some will be from the new book and some messages will be from other sources.

Have a healthy and blessed holiday.

Rabbi Karyn Kedar