This week’s Shabbat Shalom message is brought to you by guest writer and JEWISHcolorado Chief Advancement Officer Renée Rockford.

The message to the community of Boulder was said best by Boulder Jewish Family Service Director Jennifer Banyan on a conference call with social service agency and faith leaders this week: “We will be here throughout this.” Along with JEWISHcolorado, JFS is one of our many partner agencies helping to fund and deliver assistance to fire victims.

In someone’s time of need, it is the presence of others that lifts those who are grieving, provides hope to the downtrodden, or a welcome to the weary traveler. And so it is with the custom at the close of shiva to accompany the mourner out of the house, escorting the soul of the deceased but also guiding the first steps of those who have to go on living with the loss.

This week, we read parshat Bo, in which we are instructed to retell and embody the Exodus. Each of us is commanded to recount the story and to count ourselves among those led by Moses out of Egypt. Each is to join in the solidarity of a walk together toward a better day, a better life, a new freedom.

In that spirit and with empathy and understanding, we say, We are here, Boulder, and we will be here throughout the journey to healing.

Shabbat Shalom,

Renée Rockford
Chief Advancement Officer