WELCOME TO Elul Thoughts 5784 | 1-4 Elul
09/06/2024 09:25:32 AM
The Hebrew month of Elul is the last month of the Jewish year. As such, it is considered a month of spiritual preparation for the High Holy Days. Special meditations are added to the daily service for some, known as S’lichot, or penitential prayers. (*The Saturday before Rosh Hashanah is also known as S’lichot, and it is used as a night of contemplation and study.) For several years, a group of Reform clergy and educators has collaborated...Read more...
Temple talk | august 16
08/21/2024 03:26:06 PM
This week we will be reading from parashat Va’et’chanan. There is a lot going on in this Torah portion including both the restatement of the 10 Commandments as well as the text of the Shema and V’Ahavata.
We often refer to the Shema as the ‘watchword prayer of our faith.’ This is a curious phrase ‘watchword prayer of our faith.’ As Cantor David Fair argues, “We say it every morning and night and it's...Read more...
TEMPLE TALK | JULY 26
08/01/2024 08:25:09 AM
At 4 a.m. on July 19, we landed in Newark NJ, Jacob shows me the headline: Houthi drone hits Tel Aviv .
I said, thank God we weren't there; I cannot imagine if the kids felt that while we were there.
After more information came out we discover this was about 5 blocks from where we were staying the night before in Tel Aviv. We would surely have heard or felt it.
For 20 days, I was...Read more...
TEMPLE TALK | JULY 19
07/25/2024 08:42:22 AM
Last weekend, we celebrated Pride Shabbat in an explosion of color and beauty and joy as we affirmed our values-based commitment to inclusivity, representation, and love. We assembled a gorgeous, rainbow chuppah on our bimah – a wedding canopy that symbolizes our promise to our community that our Judaism affirms and sanctifies love between partners regardless of gender-identity and sexual orientation. And together we prayed...Read more...
TEMPLE TALK | JULY 12
07/19/2024 09:12:34 AM
A year ago, Rabbi Berezin and I sat down to workshop this Pride sermon. She said “You could talk about the legislative session,” and I said, “Absolutely not.” I needed time to figure out how to talk about it, first, so this is the sermon that I’ve spent a year figuring out how to write.
The 2023 session included attacks on drag performance, gender-affirming healthcare, and abortion access. Because of the sheer...Read more...