TEMPLE TALK | MARCH 21
03/27/2025 08:51:46 AM
This has been a hard week for me, maybe it was the glorious weather ended by a sudden blizzard. Maybe it was the restarting of the war in Gaza. Maybe it was the Justice Department ignoring a Judge's order with regards to deportations. There was a lot of bad news this week and I found it frankly, overwhelming. So, I decided, it is small, such a tiny thing, but I...Read more...
TEMPLE TALK | OCTOBER 25
10/30/2024 09:51:56 AM
One of my favorite actors growing up was William James Murray, better known as Bill Murray. I thought Stripes (which I saw when I was way too young, but that is Gen X for ya), Caddyshack and Scrooged were all hilarious, but if we are being honest, my favorite Bill Murry movie has to be Ghostbusters. Though I have issued a takanah, a rabbinic decree, that we are never to speak of Ghostbusters II.
But as we are...Read more...
TEMPLE TALK | KOL NIDRE 2024
10/22/2024 08:02:19 AM
There is a tradition in Judaism of keeping two statements in ones’ pockets. On one piece of paper it says, “for me the world was created.” On the other it says, “I am but dust and ashes.” According to the Talmud , we are supposed to take time to reflect every day of the incredible Divine potential implanted within each and every one of us. And that it is up to us to bring that Divine potential to life. At the same...Read more...
TEMPLE TALK | ROSH HASHANAH 2024
10/18/2024 10:03:41 AM
L’shanah Tovah.
I would like to start off my sermon today with a question, perhaps the question most commonly asked: Why? Now I won’t be asking about the whys of the larger world, instead, I want to start smaller. I want to start with us. Why are we here? What does this day mean for us? Why do we feel compelled to come back and gather to hear the shofar year after year? What is it about today, this day, this Rosh...Read more...
ELUL THOUGHTS | 26 ELUL - 1 TISHREI
10/04/2024 12:48:12 PM
September 29, 2024 | 26 Elul 5784
Cantor Joanna Alexander
Dear God,
Why can they not see how wrong they are? Can you not simply bring a miracle to show them your will, to change their ways and help them find the true path?
Dear God, I know I am not perfect, but do they not see the harm they cause to others, the damage to your one and only earth, the pain their stubbornness bears out?
They have such surety...Read more...