TEMPLE TALK | YOM KIPPUR 5784
09/29/2023 10:55:47 AM
To Everything There is a Season – Or is There?
I have always been a frazzled mom. Before I became a mom, I had grand plans of being one of those parents who always has it together, who can handle anything that gets thrown their way, and who does it all with such effortlessly cool, collected, calm, that other parents beg for the recipe to their secret sauce.
Well, here’s the thing – that just did not...Read more...
TEMPLE TALK | EREV ROSH HASHANAH 5784
09/29/2023 10:45:38 AM
A few months ago, I stood in the rotunda of the Nebraska legislature engaged in passionate debate with a senator, on an issue that we both believed, to the very core of our beings, that we were right about. We were talking about abortion. But let me clear, this is NOT a sermon about abortion.
In fact, this isn’t a sermon about politics or legislation or even about social justice. It’s a sermon about how to...Read more...
TEMPLE TALK | ROSH HASHANAH 5784
09/22/2023 10:25:11 AM
As part of our Hebrew High teen program, we recently watched the Netflix hit, “You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah.” Following the movie and the many snacks, Rabbi Berezin, Jennie Gates-Beckman, Justin Norton, and I engaged in a conversation with our teens about some of the issues that were raised by the movie. We talked about representation. We talked about the ostentatious demonstration of wealth and whether or not...Read more...
ELUL THOUGHTS | 24 ELUL - 1 TISHREI
09/15/2023 09:56:54 AM
24 Elul 5783 | September 10, 2023
We Carry the Ghosts of Our Past
Cantor Joanna M. Alexander
We carry the ghosts of our past.
Whether trauma or love, our new beginnings are tainted.
For, we carry the ghosts of our past.
Whether employment, relationship, or adventure
our expectations are set
by the stories, the actions, the memories;
all remnants of our...Read more...
TEMPLE TALK | SEPTEMBER 1
09/13/2023 10:05:57 AM
Rabbi Berezin's Sermon from September 1's Shabbat Service discussed foundational stories & core memories. She speaks about a text in Deuteronomy that is echoed no less than 26 times in the Torah -- the reminder that we were once strangers in the land in Egypt.
An excerpt from her sermon:
"Why is this the story we tell? There are so many other stories in the Torah; stories that teach us so many varied...Read more...