The True Miracle that Banishes the Darkness The Torah contains many examples of what I like to call “billboard moments” — places in the text where a kernel of life’s most profound wisdom is distilled into a pithy statement you would want to put on a billboard to announce to the world. These include sayings like Continue Reading »
This week’s Torah portion, VaYishlach, contains one of the most touching moments in the entire Hebrew Bible. After years of estrangement and bitter conflict Jacob and Esau meet and make peace. As they approach one another, we read that “Esau ran to greet him. He embraced him and, falling on his neck, he kissed him; Continue Reading »
The Torah depicts the story of our people as a series of journeys. From Abraham, who is called to “go forth” to a land of promise, to the Exodus and 40 years of wandering, to exile and return – again and again, from one land to another, and shore to shore. We are a people Continue Reading »
A Time to Cry Out [1] Imagine if three or four jumbo jets were to fall from the sky in a single day. The crash of one mid-sized jet can dominate the news for days or weeks. Such is the magnitude of shock and grief when so much innocent life is tragically lost. 9/11 punched more Continue Reading »
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous impact on just about everything around us, and IHN (Interfaith Hospitality Network) is no exception. When the pandemic hit hard in March 2020, the Somerset County Board of Social Services, which sends 99% of the clients to IHN, shut down. There were two families in the rotation (moving Continue Reading »
The COVID-19 pandemic is motivating us to develop new coping skills to be healthy in body and mind. Togetherness helps us to do that. Our members sharing what is going on in their day-to-day lives brings us together: Lines of Your Life Gayle Skolky: I spend my time reading and folk dancing, and dance along Continue Reading »
Sure, it’s fun to come up with new ways to gussy up latkes: beet latkes, cauliflower latkes, even ramen noodle latkes. But what I love more than adding other veggies and ingredients to the pancake itself is taking the classic potato latke and using it as a canvas for complementary and creative toppings. You can Continue Reading »
Every year at our Yom Kippur Reflections Service, several members of our congregation speak about how Judaism, and the experience of being Jewish, has affected their lives, their perspectives and their character. Here, three of the speakers from this year’s service offer their thoughts on how being Jewish has impacted them. Rande Aaronson – When Continue Reading »
Over the summer, I was struck by the timeliness of a teaching from parsha Ki Teitzei in the Book of Deuteronomy. I was intrigued by how relevant the first three verses of Chapter 22 seemed to be in our current circumstances: (1) If you see your fellow’s ox or sheep gone astray, do not ignore Continue Reading »
I recently purchased the Robert Alter translation of the TaNaKh, the Jewish Bible*. This award-winning translator offers a fresh look at the Biblical text, seen so often in less dynamic and precise language. Reading Alter’s translation gave me a new motivation to reread the texts of the Psalms, the 150 tehilim. These are poems from Continue Reading »
