LEHITRAOT DAY – FEBRUARY 8, 2009 – Josh Steinhauer Wow! (We were reminded a few weeks ago to appreciate wow moments. This is a Wow moment!) In this week's Parsha God's message to the Israelites is Go Forward! (into the Red Sea) That's what we're doing. We're done talking about it! We are finally "On the Move" ! Moving Forward! WOW! This is not a day for worrying about logistics, contracts, about paying our bills, or even about car pools and traffic. It is a day to be joyous!  A day to be happy! Rahm Emanuel, President Obama's Chief of Staff said:  "Never waste a crisis.  It can be turned to joyful transformation" Well, our economy may be in crisis – but for Congregation Kol Shofar – This is our opportunity for transformation.  Our goal is not to survive.  Not to be in crisis over our move.  It will all be there:  Our programming, schools, services, minyans, adult education, our office, staff and rabbis.  And, most of all, our community. I believe this will be a good year for us. A time when we prosper - as a vibrant and meaningful community.  This move is an opportunity to open our hearts and minds to new experiences To go down new paths in our spiritual journeys We will create new sacred spaces for our community And, we will also create sacred space as a community -- a community without walls It’s an opportunity to look forward:  To think about what we want our congregational community and our new synagogue to be when we come back.  It’s an opportunity  --  to think about who we are and what we are really about. It's an opportunity  --  to  really focus on developing a shared vision for our future, just as we have a vision for our new building. Because we will not be here in our familiar space We are going to have to get out of our routines We are going to have to do things differently These are very good things for us.  We may yearn to return here: to this sacred space To end our wandering around Marin. But we should not yearn to return to the past - We should instead look forward   -- To work toward becoming our best vision of what we want to be.  ---------------------------------- We should all be very proud of what we have accomplished to get us to this day. Take a moment to appreciate it.  There is nothing inevitable about the fact that we're here at this threshold It’s the product of a lot of hard work, dedication and vision. -- by a lot of people who are here in this room We have overcome a lot of obstacles   But, our work is not done We must all remain focused and committed to complete our rebuilding project To complete the task:  to rebuild Congregation Kol Shofar -- the building and our community  Our task is nothing less than that. ------------ We are living in extraordinary and scary times.  The Board and the staff are working very hard to make sure we are moving forward prudently We as a community must commit ourselves to help each other to share our gifts and skills, as the need arises We can only -- and we must -- move forward together as a community -- That is why it is so important that we walk out of here together, Arm-in-arm:  as a community and a little ways down the road, we will dance right back   I look forward to seeing you all - at Kol Shofar: -- Down the road at Westminster  -- our wonderful and gracious neighbors -- Down the road at Hall Middle School -- Down the road at Davidson Middle School Annex Zay geh Zunt -- Kol Shofar Wow!