Friday, October 23-24, 2026/13 Heshvan 5787

Friday, October 23-24, 2026/13 Heshvan 5787

Parashat Lech Lecha, Genesis 12:1-17:27

Haftarah Isaiah 40:27-41:16

Dear TBE Community,

Fittingly during Parashat Lech Lecha, I had the honor to address the Board of Supervisors of Los Angeles County in a brief invocation this week. I say fittingly because the beginning of this week’s Torah portion lends itself to reflections about visionary leadership work. This Friday, in lieu of a lengthier exploration of the place of Shechem, the first place where Abraham builds an altar after arriving the in the Land of Canaan, allow me to share with you the brief words I shared earlier this week in the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration:

Thank you to Supervisor Janice Hahn for the invitation, and to the entire assembly for welcoming me. As a rabbi and storyteller, when I seek inspiration, also for secular matters, I often turn to Torah, to the Bible. This week, it offers a story about a man who follows a call into the unknown. So, I would like to invite you this morning to take a moment to reflect on the courage it takes to begin such a journey. The ancient story begins with three departures: Leaving one’s land, one’s birthplace, and one’s parents’ house – three layers of belonging offering familiarity, comfort, a sense of certainty. But the journey is also about moving beyond familiar territory and inherited assumptions. It is about imagining a future that is not yet visible.

Los Angeles, LA County, is a realm shaped by journeys. By people who came here from near and far, by those whose families have lived on this land for generations, by those who sought refuge, opportunity, freedom, or simply a place to call home. Their journeys, their histories, hopes and aspirations are woven into the fabric of this extraordinary county. Every day, as cliffs crumble, canyons burn, gas and grocery prices soar, ICE raids devastate families, the people of Los Angeles County look to their leaders to navigate change and uncertainty, and to help them imagine what a better place can look like. And to have the courage to take the first steps toward it. As you summon this courage every day, may you every day feel the resolve to move forward together.

This Board is a living example for what commitment to all Angelenos looks like. A living example of what it means to shoulder responsibility to build a county where every person has the opportunity to thrive and to feel safe. As you navigate the challenging journeys that are required from your stewardship, particularly in these charged pre-election days, I pray that you may always feel grounded in strength, support, openness, curiosity, and wisdom.

May you feel that you are arriving, every day. Thank you for your amazing and so deeply needed and appreciated work. Thank you for the honor to speak to you today.

I believe that much of what I invoked in these brief words is also applicable and transferrable to our spiritual life. I wish for us all that we can always see the place we long for, the place we work toward in our minds and hearts, even when it is not yet visible physically.

In Genesis 15:18, the formulation “on that day”, “ba yom ha hu” that is so essential to the Aleinu prayer’s message, comes up for the first time in Torah:

בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא כָּרַת יְהֹוָה אֶת־אַבְרָם בְּרִית לֵאמֹר לְזַרְעֲךָ נָתַתִּי אֶת־הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת מִנְּהַר מִצְרַיִם עַד־הַנָּהָר הַגָּדֹל נְהַר־פְּרָת׃

On that day the Eternal made a covenant with Abram: “To your offspring I assign this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates—

In the very beginning of the Jewish narrative is already embedded what the later prophets conjure up, and what is pronounced every day in the Aleinu: the promise of redemption, the promise of a better world. It is woven into the cyclical narrative of Judaism, and every year, as we go from Genesis to Deuteronomy and back again, we have the chance to reconsider this promise and this aspiration, to refine it anew, to work on it just a bit more, to move closer to what we imagine as a world repaired.

On our way, may we always feel grounded in support, community, strength, wisdom, openness, and curiosity. May we feel that we are arriving, step by step, every day a little bit.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Julia Knobloch

More Torah Tidbits

Hadas Cootware

Torah School Coordinator

Hadas Cootware has been teaching Hebrew and Jewish Studies for over a decade, joining our Temple Beth El Community in 2018. Born and raised in Israel with Hebrew as her native language, she previously served as a combat soldier and operations officer in the IDF. Drawing on her studies in acting and psychology, she published a children’s book in Hebrew, The Marshmallow Story, which focuses on delayed gratification. Outside of teaching, she is the proud mother of her son, Henry, and loves to travel.

TBEtorahschool@bethelsp.org

Ilan Davidson

Cantor

Cantor Ilan Davidson has been pleasing audiences with his singing since before he could read. At age five, he began singing with his Cantor, Philip Moddel, and hasn’t shut up since. At ten, he made his Operatic debut with the Fullerton Civic Light Opera’s production of Bizet’s Carmen, as a street urchin. Since then, he has performed roles in opera and musical theatre, performing, directing, and producing world-class productions.

Among his many accomplishments, Cantor Davidson is also known as a contemporary Jewish songwriter and performer, having delighted audiences all over the world, including Israel and Lithuania with the soulful sounds of his music. His recordings, Stained Glass (1995) and In A Hanukkah Mood (2007) are collections of original and covered songs by himself and many contemporary Jewish artists. His most recent recording, God Is In This Place (2020), is a collection of original liturgical pieces for the Friday night Shabbat Service, commissioned and written in honor of his 25th Anniversary as the Cantor of Temple Beth El.

Cantor Davidson left the stage and in 1995 joined the Temple Beth El family, in San Pedro, where, in his nearly 30 years of service, he has brought many new programs and much enthusiasm to all he does. Coming from a long line of Cantors, it must have been Besheret for Cantor Davidson, although talented in all areas of musical performance, to finally settle down into his career as Hazzan for Temple Beth El in San Pedro, California. In 2007, Cantor Davidson founded a new foundation, KindredSPIRITS, producing an annual world humanitarian aid event. KindredSPIRITS premiered on June 5, 2008 at Walt Disney Concert Hall, adding that prestigious concert hall to the ever growing list of venues around the world, where Davidson has performed. During the 10 years of humanitarian events, Global KindredSPIRITS, Inc., as an official 501©3, raised awareness and close to $500,000 for its beneficiaries over the decade.
As a past president of the South Coast Interfaith Council, Ilan fought for tolerance and understanding of ALL faiths in a difficult climate. For the past 7 years, Cantor Davidson has been service as an LA County Commissioner, representing the 4th District on the Human Relations Commission, where he currently serves as President. Whether it is raising his voice for justice, Hazzanut, Pop, Opera, Musical Theatre, or folk music, Cantor Ilan Davidson shares his soul and genuine love in every note.

When asked about his finest accomplishment, Cantor Ilan invariably responds, “After all the great concerts, services, and roles, my finest role in life is that of husband to my beautiful wife, Jodi, and daddy to my gorgeous daughters, Jordan and Zoe.”

cantor@bethelsp.org

Office: (310) 833-2467 Ext. 106

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