A Moment of Torah with Rabbi Neil Sandler – Parshat Bereisheet

Posted on by Lauren Dube

A Moment of Torah with Rabbi Neil Sandler

Parshat Bereisheet

From the time we get up each morning until we return to our beds at night, we are doing. We are making. We are creating. We prepare meals. Some of us go off to our workplaces for much of the day. Perhaps we make sales there. We create documents. We help people based on our professional expertise. Some of us spend more time at home. We may have hobbies or other activities in which we participate and create or do something. All of us enjoy relationships with other people. We create in that realm too, including feelings and impressions that can have an impact on those relationships.

Of course, in all instances, we are the ones who are doing. We are responsible for our actions. However, our tradition, as interpretively expressed in Parshat Bereisheet this week, adds a partner who lies at the foundation of our lives and actions. An awareness of the presence of this partner, the Holy One, may have an impact on our actions and how we view them.

At the conclusion of the Creation story, God ceases all creative activity. The relevant sentence (Gn. 2:3) ends somewhat awkwardly with the word, "la'asot," an unusual verbal form here. The medieval biblical commentator, Ibn Ezra, suggests this strange sentence construction hints at the Holy One's empowerment of all species to reproduce themselves. More popularly, Ibn Ezra's take on this sentence is understood as the basis for saying that creation is never really concluded. Moreover, God does not act alone in the work of creation. Every single one of us potentially joins the Holy One in acts of creation.

Some of us create in large ways. Some of us create in small ways. To the extent possible, let us seek to view ourselves as God's partners and thereby raise up the meaning and significance of what we do each day.

Shabbat Shalom.

Rabbi Sandler Honored as Rabbi Emeritus

Posted on by Lauren Dube

Rabbi Sandler Honored as Rabbi Emeritus

By Barry Herman, Executive Director

On the first day of Rosh Hashanah 5782, our synagogue president, Gerry Benjamin, announced to our congregation that Rabbi Neil Sandler was to be honored as Rabbi Emeritus of Ahavath Achim Synagogue. As I watched Rabbi Sandler graciously accept this honor and listened to his humble acceptance remarks, I was filled with a sense of pride at this appropriate acknowledgment. I have known and worked closely with Rabbi Sandler for very many years and can tell you first-hand that he is most deserving of this honor. He is a man of great integrity, honor, passion, and love of the Jewish people as well as this congregation. I am blessed to call both him and Susan friends and will always treasure my relationship with them both.

In the words of Dr. Dennis Gilbride, who has known Rabbi Sandler for more years than I, "Rabbi Neil Sandler was practically born in a shul. His parents, of blessed memory, were deeply committed to their congregation, community, the state of Israel, and the Jewish people. They raised Neil to a life of service. Throughout his long and successful career, Neil has lived the values his parents taught him – he has exemplified a Jewish life lived well. Across multiple congregations, he (along with his rebbetzin, Susan) has committed himself to the congregations he has served. He has lived his life in concert with Jewish values, the rhythms of the Jewish calendar, and the wisdom of the Jewish tradition. The central question that has animated his life has always been, "What is best for my congregation?" During his tenure here at AA, Rabbi Sandler initiated innovative programing, officiated at services with professionalism and grace, and maintained and enhanced our congregation's connection to Israel and the broader Atlanta Jewish community. Neil has always lived up to the enormous challenges and duties of being a rabbi. It is right and fitting and a deep honor for him to now be Rabbi Emeritus of Ahavath Achim Synagogue."