Dear Temple Beth-El, Tonight we welcome our first Shabbat of the month of Elul, and begin our season of Teshuvah in earnest together. There is a custom of sounding the shofar daily throughout the month of Elul, so if you are a Shofar blower, now is a great time to start practicing and re-strengthening your Continue Reading »
Dear Temple Beth-El, Believe it or not, Summer is winding down and Elul is almost upon us. Next Monday is Rosh Chodesh Elul, and with the start of the month of Elul come our various modes and methods of preparing for the High Holy Days. Elul is a month of introspection and self-evaluation, or, as Continue Reading »
Dear Temple Beth-El, This Shabbat we’re reading Parashat Eikev, which contains the Torah verses that make up the second paragraph of the V’ahavta–the paragraph that had not, until the recent publication (2015) of Mishkan HaNefesh, the URJ’s newest High Holy Day machzor, ever appeared in a Reform Jewish prayerbook. The paragraph did not appear because Continue Reading »
Dear Temple Beth-El, Sadly, I’ll miss spending Friday night with you in person as I need to be home to take care of my family, all of whom are under the weather with a virus. Marnie, kiddos, I’m sending you a refuah shleimah! Parashat Va’etchanan contains Deuteronomy ch. 6, which famously is the location of Continue Reading »
Dear Temple Beth-El, We are beginning the book of D’varim this Shabbat–a book that is almost entirely made up of an extended speech by Moshe recapitulating the Israelites’ journey in the Torah and the many mitzvot they have been commanded to observe. The Vilna Gaon taught in his commentary on the opening of the book Continue Reading »
Dear Temple Beth-El, Yesterday, after many hours of testimony, the New Jersey General Assembly State and Local Government Committee voted in favor of advancing A3558—a bill adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism. If the bill is ultimately signed into law New Jersey will become the 38th* (*a correction from my previous message) Continue Reading »
Thank you again for continuing to welcome me so warmly. My first Shabbat in person with you all was memorable, warm, and full of ruach, spirit, and I know they’ll continue to feel that way even when we have somewhat less than two hundred of our members present. (If you missed last week’s service, you Continue Reading »
In our parashah this week, Balak, we learn of an enemy king who sends one of his court prophets, Bil’am, on a mission to curse the Israelite People. A wild narrative ensues, complete with talking donkeys, intimidating angels with fiery swords, curses transformed into blessings, and some of the most famous and oft-quoted verses from Continue Reading »
Dear Temple Beth-El, Thank you for my all-time warmest welcome. It has me—to use what has seemingly, and quite unintentionally on my part, become the word of the moment—totally stoked. Sitting at the desk where my predecessor, Rabbi Arnie Gluck, built a monumentally successful rabbinate is humbling. Rabbi Gluck’s successes in community building, on which Continue Reading »
There is an old saying: the more things change, the more they stay the same. I’ve said this more times than I can remember. It applies to all sorts of situations, including the central theme of this week’s Torah portion, Korach. Last year I also led Erev Shabbat services for Parsha Korach, and my drash Continue Reading »
