Rabbi Andrew Kaplan Mandel

Shabbat did not begin as any of us would have liked. But as I smelled the spices during Havdallah last night, I was able to breathe in the sweetness of the holiday: all of the signs of our @centralsynagogue collective resilience. As soon as our heroic head of security removed the man who disrupted the service on Friday, we relit the candles and began again. Rabbi Houser led us in some much-needed breathing. Cantor Pearsall and our musical team kept the service going with the joyful sounds of Shabbat. Rabbi Thau adapted her sermon in real time to speak beautifully to the moment. We celebrated a wedding couple. We concluded with our arms around one another for the Traveler’s Prayer. Our congregants were with us every step of the way. We had to add chairs on Saturday morning because we had such a full house, and people had so much to say about the Talmud stories we were reading that we kept the conversation going at the Oneg. We celebrated August birthdays. Everyone is okay. I know we will keep discussing the best security approaches for the moment and the state of the city and the scourge of antisemitism and the need for more mental health support and more. But know this: we will not let our light go out.