Kabbalat Shabbat Kavannah | Rabbi Becca Weintraub | January 23, 2026

Shabbat shalom to everyone. Our families

go, they'll head to their dinner. So, as

they're making their way out, we always

like to give a little extra blessing as

they make their way out. But we love

having everyone here.

We

go all the way back to creation. And

according to one of the commentators,

thiso, who's an Italian biblical

commentator,

he says that the first thing that is

created is time. With the light before

space,

before anything else was brought into

being, this light brings us this concept

of time. And because of that, the first

mitzvah, the first commandment that's

given to us as a Jewish people is not

about a place or an object, but it's

about sanctifying time,

making time holy.

And in parat which was our parisha this

week we read

aaron

laymore that God comes and speaks to

both Moshe and Aaron in the land of

mitim in Egypt. So they're still there

and also there are beautiful comments on

why is it both of them but that Aaron is

included because he's been such a pillar

for Moshe in his leadership. So he comes

to both of the mitzvah comes to both of

them.

that that this this

very moon or this time is going to be

for you the way that you are going to

count time. It's going to be the

beginning of time or this this month is

going to be the beginning of time.

And it keeps going and says

hash that this month that this stage of

the moon and there are some midrashim

again that God is pointing or showing

them that this time being Nissan which

is in the spring is going to be the

beginning of the month and it's the

first for you of the months of the year.

Still while in Egypt, still surrounded

by that darkness and that narrowness,

God gives us the power to name time.

That is the commandment. Not just to

count days, but to make them holy. And

God points to the moon.

Why the moon? Why are we moon people?

There are many, many different rabbitic

texts, midrashim. They're beautiful. And

I just wanted to bring a couple tonight

and tie it together.

There's one midash that teaches that

during the first 15 days of the month,

the moon grows from that very thin

sliver into a full radiant circle. I

actually saw the moon as I was walking

here. I don't know if anyone saw it. It

was magnificent tonight. It is so clear.

It's a crescent and you can see you can

see the dark side. It's beautiful. But

we're making our way toward that full

moon. And in the same way the midrash

says that over 15 generations from

Abraham to Solomon, so King Solomon, the

Jewish people grew from one courageous

individual into a sovereign nation with

a holy temple that we just kept growing

and growing and growing. And after that,

the light began to fade. That we had a

time when generation by generation it

was diminished until 15 generations

later we were defeated and our temple

destroyed and that that light seemed to

disappear entirely.

But like the moon, our story does not

end in darkness. When the moon is

completely hidden, we know it has not

vanished. We know that the light is

going to return. Even when we are living

through times that feel painfully dark,

this is not the end. No matter how deep

the night feels, the light will emerge

again. No matter how dark it gets and it

feels and how overwhelming that darkness

is, the light of the moon always comes

back gradually.

And there's another teaching. This one

from the mystical texts. This one from

the tikun zohar. It's one of the texts

of the zohar which compares those who

lack material wealth. So those who are

poor to the moon. And it says the moon

itself doesn't have light, doesn't have

her own light.

And yet, just as the sun gives that

light freely to the moon, so too we are

asked and we are called to give of what

we have, our generosity, our care, our

presence without fear of scarcity,

knowing that it's no loss to us. The sun

gives the moon the light that it has.

And that calls us to also in generosity

of spirit and without fear to say, I can

share my light with those who need it.

in a world that is feeling actually

impossibly dark. Part of sanctifying

time, and I want to say especially

weekly through Shabbat, which we

sanctify time every single week on

Shabbat, it's a practice of seeking

light,

reconnecting to sparks that feel distant

or they feel hidden. And when we find

them, even the smallest ones, the work

is to share them freely. This is our

first commandment as a people. That is

what the para says. Share that light.

Sanctify time. Don't forget even in the

darkness to look for the light. It's

there. That's what it means to sanctify

time. And this is how we participate in

this idea of tikun in helping and fixing

our broken world. It's how we help the

light return. And just as the moon

disappears,

but we always know it will grow and glow

again. Shabbat shalom.