Rabbi’s Update 8/28/2026

Dear Friends:

From the beginning of Elul through the last day of Sukkot we end morning and evening services with Psalm 27.

I want to take a look this morning at verse 4 of that Psalm:

דאַחַ֚ת | שָׁאַ֣לְתִּי מֵֽאֵת־יְהֹוָה֘ אוֹתָ֪הּ אֲבַ֫קֵּ֥שׁ שִׁבְתִּ֣י בְּבֵֽית־יְ֖הֹוָה כָּל־יְמֵ֣י חַיַּ֑י לַֽחֲז֥וֹת בְּנֹֽעַם־יְ֜הֹוָ֗ה וּלְבַקֵּ֥ר בְּהֵיכָלֽוֹ:

“One thing I ask of Adonai -- for this I yearn:

To dwell in the house of Adonai all the days of my life --

To behold God’s beauty, to pray in God’s sanctuary.”

This is the way the Psalm is translated in our daily Siddur and as many of you have heard me say on more than one occasion, translation is an art and not a science. If you look at the last two words of the line in Hebrew, it says “u’l’vaker b’heichalo” which if we were trying to translate with word-for-word accuracy actually means “to visit in His (God’s) sanctuary.”

At morning minyan at Adas Israel in DC more than thirty years ago, I heard Rabbi Jeffrey Wohlberg give a brief drasha on this line. He was the first person to point out to me the literal translation of the last two words as “to visit in God’s sanctuary” and pointed to a seeming internal contradiction in the verse. We are asking to dwell in God’s house all the days of our life but then we are asking to “visit” there. “Which do you want? Do you want to live there or do you want to be a visitor?”

The key to understanding the verse is that while our observances should be regular and constant we should approach them spiritually as if they are new every day. If our observances are merely rote or on autopilot then we are not doing the spiritual work necessary as we approach the High Holy Days.

Another way we prepare for the High Holy Days is through the Selichot service which in Ashkenazi communities is held the Saturday night (technically the Sunday morning) before Rosh Hashanah. (Sephardi communities say Selichot the entire month of Elul.) In our area a number of Conservative congregations join together every year for a program and service. This year we will gather beginning at 8:45 pm on Saturday evening Sept. 5 at Shaare Tefila Congregation, 16620 Georgia Ave. in Olney for light refreshments, followed by a showing and discussion of CNN correspondent Dana Bash’s 2022 documentary “Rising Hate: Antisemitism in America.” The service led by clergy of participating congregations will start no later than 10:30. Participating congregations are Kehilat Shalom, Shaare Tefila, Tikvat Israel, B’nai Shalom, Kol Shalom, and Shaare Torah.

A couple of other notes as we prepare for the High Holidays:

If you are a Kohen or Levi (or a Bat Kohen or Bat Levi, i.e. daughter of a Kohen or Levi father) you have inherited an important role in conveying God’s blessing to the congregation on the High Holy Days. If you have not participated in the ritual of Birkat Kohanim (the Priestly Blessing) in the past and would like to do so this year or are unsure and need more information, please contact me so we can discuss it.

If you can blow the Shofar and have not done so in our services before but are willing to do so, please contact me as well. We are always eager to expand our cadre of Ba’alei Tekiyah.

If you or someone you know is in need because of having been laid off, or has  lost benefits of some type and needs immediate help, please let me know. I can access limited funds through the Jewish Federation almost immediately. For longer-term help, the Hebrew Free Loan Society will loan up to $18,000 interest-free and the Jewish Federation has set up a hotline to access assistance at 703-JCARING.

As a reminder, I am having drop-in hours on Thursday afternoons from 2 to 4 at the shul. For my drop-in hours, you do not need to make an appointment -- that would negate the whole point of drop-in hours -- but I’d urge you to check and make sure I am there regardless as sometimes there are unavoidable pastoral or other emergencies which might take me away from the building. 

As always, if I can do anything for you or you need to talk, please contact me at rabbi@kehilatshalom.org rather than through the synagogue office. I am happy to meet you at the synagogue by appointment; if you want to speak with me it’s best to make an appointment rather than assuming I will be there when you stop by. 

Additionally, if you know of a Kehilat Shalom congregant or another member of our Jewish community who could use a phone call, please let me know.

L’shalom,

Rabbi Charles L. Arian