This week, I have three important messages in one. First, Confirmation: A few words…there is no real final grade in Jewish Education; the only real grade you can get is “incomplete.” Yet there is an end to the formal Religious School program at our Temple and those students who successfully complete their studies are to Continue Reading »
How do you get yourself to do the right thing? That’s the question. And a hint is another question: What do dieting, exercise and moral action have in common? The answer? All three have at their center the main/body relationship. When we are on a diet and look at that sugar-filled cupcake, our body longs Continue Reading »
Do you want to know how to relieve the stress and anxiety that you may be feeling because of the chaotic national and international scene? Do you want to know how to respond to the hundreds killed in Gaza, the constant anti-Semitism coming from both the right and the left at home and abroad, the Continue Reading »
Purim is a holiday unto itself; it’s like no other celebration in our calendar. What other Jewish holiday encourages us to get so drunk we can’t tell the difference between the hero and the villain? What other holiday has everyone booing and screaming and making noise in the sanctuary? What other holiday has silliness as Continue Reading »
After the Academy Awards this past week and so many awards going to “Anora,” a movie about a young sex worker and the acceptance speech by writer/director Sean Baker supporting sex workers across the world, I want to give a big shout out to our TBE board for voting to turn our temple education wing Continue Reading »
We live in a time of suspiciousness, in particular, across our national political spectrum. Being suspicious is a natural human trait and probably evolved to help us survive. Still, it is dispiriting because deep down, our sense of well-being also depends on trusting others. The Talmud recognizes how quick people are to think the worst Continue Reading »
This week was heart-wrenching for Israel and for Jews around the world. The bodies of four hostages were returned to Israel. Three have been identified: Oded Lifshitz, 84, and Ariel and Kfir Bibas, ages 4, and nine months, at the time of their capture with their mother Shiri. Read the words of Bernard-Henri Levy published Continue Reading »
Today is Valentine’s Day and the day always brings back memories… During my first year of Rabbinical school in Jerusalem my theological leanings tilted one way and the next and upon my return I wondered if I should continue to send my mother Saint Valentine’s cards as I had been doing over the years. When Continue Reading »
Tonight is Shabbat Shirah, named after the song the Children of Israel sang when they crossed the Red Sea. There is a quaint midrash that describes the miracles that occurred. Apparently, when the waters parted even the embryos in their mothers’ wombs sang “Mi Chamocha!” – “Who is like You among the gods, O Eternal Continue Reading »
The night before last I watched in horror pictures of the collision of two aircraft in Washington D.C. It was heart breaking. “There but for the grace of God go I…” – is this not what many of us imagine as we witness a tragedy? It could have been me. When a ship sinks and Continue Reading »
