From Blessing to Reality
Many people wake up in the morning knowing there will be a difficult task ahead of them during the coming day. For some the challenges come daily and for others it’s more sporadic. We can struggle with making a living, we can struggle with interpersonal relationships and we can even struggle with ourselves.
In this week’s Torah portion we are reminded of G-d blessing Abraham and promising him that he would give him the land of Israel as a gift. Yet a few paragraphs later we find Abraham in the midst of a tense negotiation to buy a field and a cave in Hebron so that he can bury his wife. Abraham ends up paying a hefty sum of money for the right to that land. What happened to G-d’s blessing? Should he have been able to “take the land” without worrying about the others who lived there. After all, he had G-d’s word.
A very simple yet powerful idea that we can glean from this occurrence is that while we strive for G-d to bless us a people, and our prayers are full with requests for G-d to shine His goodness upon us, no blessing can take the place of hard work. Struggle is the way in which divine promise comes to fulfillment.
Next time you reach a difficult place, dig down and face it head on knowing that through the toil and effort you are bringing G-d’s blessing to fruition.
About Our Shul
Located in a New Haven Landmark building listed on the National Register of Historic Places and honored by the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, Orchard Street Shul was reborn in 2010 as a traditional yet “post label” synagogue after many years of disuse. We continue to build a dynamic community made up of Jewish people of all ages, from all backgrounds and levels of affiliation.
We seek to appeal to the Jewish self in us all, so we can join in a community in which every member of our family finds comfort, meaning, and spiritual connection. We celebrate our Jewishness, and yours. We invite you to join and experience our spiritual haven where you will be welcomed as family, find depth, meaning, and a new appreciation for Jewish life.
Orchard Street Shul
Our beautiful Eastern European Ashkenazi style synagogue was built in 1924 with a unique blend of Federal style and Eastern European architecture seen in our façade. The Shul stands proudly as a symbol of a once vibrant Jewish neighborhood, adjacent to Yale University and both campuses of Yale-New Haven Hospital. Today, the Shul is an anchor of New Haven’s emerging medical and biotech corridor. Jews of all backgrounds make our Shul happen, bringing Jewish life back to an historic neighborhood, in the only synagogue remaining of the dozen that once served our area. Now the only Shul servicing the downtown New Haven community, the sounds of Jewish life are once again regularly heard in this restored gem. You are invited to join your prayers with ours.
Read more About Our Shul, Shul History and Shul Restorations, and check out our Photo Gallery.
Connect With Us
We hold services every Shabbos at 9:30 AM, a Carlebach Kabbalat Shabbat minyan on the First Friday of the secular month (see posted time depending on season).
We welcome your membership, and contributions, but most importantly we welcome you. There are no tickets to attend our services and, please, you should always feel welcome to be part of our family.