Please permit me to share some insights from Ellyn Hutt. It will be Tu b’Shevat on February 10. We are in redemption season. The months of Shevat (Tu b’Shevat), Adar (Purim) and Nissan (Passover) or the months of redemption. These holidays are exactly 4 weeks apart unless it is a leap year. They are all mid-month during a full moon. Tu b’Shevat is associated with Shabbat Shira, when the waters of the Sea of Reeds split, and the Israelites crossed over and were saved from the Egyptians. They sang in celebration of their miracle. For Tu b’Shevat we eat fruit. However, there are no trees, at least in the northern hemisphere, that bear fruit in February. Although the trees do start to bud in Israel, February is still deep in the winter for us. We look at the bud, and we know what the finished product will be. So, we celebrate the finished product before we’re sure if the fully formed fruit will really happen. We know that there are always miracles all around us. If we are very traditional, we say that this heralds the coming of the Messiah. If we are less traditional, we say that this brings us hope that life and its miracles will go on and we will be redeemed.

February 8 is the Shabbat closest to Tu b’Shevat. Please come to services, bring fruit and enjoy our season of redemption and miracles of the renewal of life.

I recently attended a meeting of the Safety and Security Network. We will be discussing ways of continually upgrading our security at the next board meeting. In view of the uptick in anti-Semitic activities and violence against Jews and Jewish institutions, we need to maintain vigilance. We will keep all of you appraised.

We are grateful to Steve and Susan Berson for their generous purchase of wine and grape juice for future Shabbat lunches.  In their words, "This donation is made in honor of Kohelet's brilliant, hard-working, self-effacing Treasurer."