Laurie Heller

The first word is our name is Kehilla. That is because we really are a community  - a community that cares about each other. It is because we are a community and not just a shul that this process has been so hard, If we were just a shul then the people that were not happy would leave and not be so pained by it.

In today’s parsha I finally understood something that I did not understand before. HaShem tells Moshe that he will harden Paroah’s heart, I never really understood what a hardened heart was. But today I realized during the Torah reading that hardening our hearts is what we have done to each other. People don’t look at each other and people are saying terrible lashon horah about each other. It is hurtful and pulling our community apart. I am hoping that the process we are beginning today will lead to a softening of our hearts to each other.