Picture a day filled doing a few activities you enjoy and seeing the wonderful people in your life in a special location. With our busy lives, we can’t always do what we want, but we can set aside time to practice feeling grateful.

I have recently returned from the WRJ Pacific District convention in Portland, OR. It was rejuvenating to be among women who strive to repair the world in so many compassionate ways. So much of what we do when we come together is to focus or reignite our commitments towards social justice as we recently did at this convention.

This week’s parashah, Lech L’cha, begins with God’s famous call to Abraham, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you shall be a blessing.” While few of us have taken physical journeys quite like Abraham’s, most of us have taken other kinds of journeys.

As I started to write about this week’s Parashah, Noach, my mind kept returning to last week’s Parashah, B'reishit, especially its opening describing when God created the world. After each stage of creation, God reviews his work and finds that “it is good.”

A few weeks ago, we observed Rosh Hashanah, traditionally considered the birthday of the world. This week's Torah portion, Bereshit, starts with the beginning – creation. God created a universe of harmony, balance, and beauty in six days, sanctifying the seventh, Shabbat, with a well-deserved rest.