APRIL 22 • 2021 | 27 Amelia Jane Lippitt will chant from the Torah on the occa- sion of her bat mitzvah at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield on Saturday, April 24, 2021. She will be joined in celebration by her proud par- ents, Denise and Ron Lippitt, and siblings Maureen and Caroline. She is the loving grandchild of Elaine and David Lippitt, Marjie and Steve Ziff, Linda and Ken Rudisel, and the late Don Messing. Amelia attends Clifford H. Smart Middle School in Commerce Township. As part of her mitzvah project, she found joy in participating in a letter-writing campaign for res- idents of assisted living via the United Way of Michigan. Emma Claire Schwartz, daughter of Naomi and Nicholas Schwartz, will chant from the Torah as she becomes a bat mitzvah at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield on Saturday, April 24, 2021. She will be joined in celebration by her siblings Levi and Avi and her proud grand- parents Sandy and Paul Schwartz, and Mary and Robert Garver. She is a student at West Bloomfield Middle School in West Bloomfield. For her mitz- vah project, Emma partnered with the United Way and raised donations to purchase essential baby supplies for local needy families. She was able to provide two months of baby supplies to 30 area families. Benjamin Elliott Sherman, son of Lisa and Mark Sherman, will chant from the Torah on the occa- sion of his bar mitzvah on Friday, April 23, 2021, at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield. He is the loving grandchild of Carol and Gary Kushner, the late Sandy Brenner, the late Denny Brenner and the late Murray Sherman. Benjamin is a student at West Hills Middle School. He orga- nized a raffle to raise funds for an animal rescue organization as part of his mitzvah project. Skylar Alexandra Thurswell, daugh- ter of Jennifer and Larry Thurswell, will lead the con- gregation in prayer as she becomes a bat mitzvah at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield on Saturday, April 24, 2021. Joining in her celebra- tion will be her brother Luke and proud grandparents Lynn and Harvey Rubin, and Gerald Thurswell. She is also the granddaughter of the late Galina and Alexander Pavlov. Skylar is a student at Derby Middle School in Birmingham. As part of her most meaningful mitzvah project, she creat- ed a Facebook event to raise funds for the Reuben Phoenix Schostak Congenital Heart Center Research Fund. SPIRIT A Time to Mourn and Find Strength W e stand today at a liminal moment, a moment that is neither here nor there. Every day, somewhere between 3-4 million people are getting vac- cinated in the United States, and we are moving closer to the day when we can begin a “post-pandemic life” (whatever that may be for each of us). At the same time, we are still in the thick of a pandemic that has destroyed so much and taken so many lives. In this week’s parshah, we receive what is one of the key pieces that makes up the DNA of the Jewish soul. Parshat Kedoshim begins with the words: “Speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy. ’” Holiness can have many manifestations, but they all share in that they are ways that we, through our actions, reveal God’s light in the world. So, how do we, in this time of liminality, continue to find holiness and God’s light? Do we mourn and focus on all that we have lost, bringing comfort to one another, or do we charge forward looking at how we can rise stronger and more brilliant than we were before? Part of the answer is found in a new understanding of the Torah portion we read two weeks ago, where Aaron’s two sons are killed. When Aaron is confronted with the death of his sons the Torah is very terse in describing his response: vayidom Aharon. Most translations render these two words as “ Aaron was silent. ” He was silent because he needed to bury his own feelings in order to fulfil his job of leading the people in prayer. In this heart- wrenching episode, Aaron is silent. Yet, as R. Shai Held teaches, the root of vay- idom is d-m-m, which can mean to be still/ silent and can also mean to mourn, moan or wail. Is it possible that Aaron reacted as we might expect any parent whose children die? He cries out in utter agony. In this moment of liminal- ity, we must find a way to live with both meanings of vay- idom. We all must acknowl- edge what has been taken from us, mentally, physically and spiritually. We must be able to see and empathize with the pain that each of us feels at different times. At the same time, we must drive forward, recognizing the task which we have been given as we recite in the second paragraph of the aleinu l’taken ha-olam b’malchut Shaddai — to repair and build a better world filled with God’s light and a holiness that we can all share into the future. Rabbi Shalom Kantor is the rabbi of Congregation B’nai Moshe in West Bloomfield. TORAH PORTION Rabbi Shalom Kantor Parshat Achrey Mot/ Kedoshim: Leviticus 16:1- 20:27; Amos 9:7-15.