Friday, April 10, 2026/24 Nisan, 5786

Friday, April 10, 2026/24 Nisan, 5786

Parashat Shemini Leviticus 9:1-11:47

Haftarah 2 Samuel 6:1-7:17

Dear TBE Community,

Tonight, at Shabbat services we will count one week and two days of the Omer: gevurah shebe gevurah: The strength that lies in strength. Gevurah stands for strength, discipline, and awe. It invites us into focus, discernment, and spiritual courage. It reminds us that love without boundaries can lose form, and that true strength helps create balance, clarity, and space for growth.

In the kabbalistic tradition, gevurah balances chesed, lovingkindness, the attribute of the previous, first week of the seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot.

If chesed flows without limit like water, gevurah gives it shape. It sets boundaries, creates structure and channels energy in tangible, constructive ways.

The element linked with gevurah is fire, the opposite of water, and it is associated with judgment, self-discipline, and inner resolve. It asks us to consider where strength is needed in our lives: not only physical strength, but also the strength to set boundaries, act with integrity, and exercise control over ego and impulse. Tonight, in my davar, I will reflect on how Aaron the High Priest might be going through a similar balancing process after the death of his two sons Nadav and Abihu, as narrated in this week’s parasha, Shemini.

While chesed is represented by yemin, the right hand of God, the strong arm that saves and draws near, gevurah is represented by s’mol, the left hand. Outside of Judaism, the (often) blind-folded figure of Justitia, as a symbol of justice, generally holds the scale weighing her decisions in her left hand.

In Hebrew, the word for justice is din. One administrator in a rabbinical school once quipped, when students complained about certain decisions, that the role they occupied was called “dean” for a reason — and not “kindness.”

Must religious leaders, rabbi-administrators, always be kind in order to fulfill their role adequately? And who decides if their self-perceived kindness is indeed informed by a sense of impartial justice? Can we continue to respect a spiritual guide even when they do not live up to our ideas of what they are supposed to do?

Once over a kiddish, or oneg, I shared with my rabbi the pain about being childless, how difficult it is to sit in the pew and always hear “from generation to generation”, l’ dor va dor, knowing that the line ends with me– and he didn’t show the empathy I had expected. Rather he suggested a change in perspective, and how I could find my place within the line of transmission; how it was not Judaism’s fault, but my responsibility to relate to it in constructive ways. I was hurt, then: Aren’t rabbis supposed to always be empathic no matter what or when, even caught in between tuna salad and cookies? But I liked that rabbi, who had been instrumental as a teacher. And while I never completely filled the hole left by the yearning for a child, I was able to find different ways of approaching and relating to Judaism and to move past that pain. And I have remained respectful of and connected with that rabbi over the years. He didn’t say what he may have known I wanted to hear. He said what he believed was just – and kind. He made me ponder and live up to my strength and spiritual courage, my gevurah.

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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