Dear Friends, This is a special Shabbat! Of course, every Shabbat is special, simply because it is sanctified as “special” time – holy time. But this Shabbat is extra special. This is the first of four special Shabbatot that lead up to Passover. Shabbat Shekalim gets its special name from the Maftir Aliyah that is Continue Reading »
Dear Friends, How easy is it for us to proverbially “put the cart before the horse”? How many times have we jumped to conclusions and acted upon them before we figured out that our conclusions were based on erroneous assumptions? Of course, we should think before we act. However, there is also a danger in Continue Reading »
Dear Friends, How long should we wait before we sing a joyous song? Should we wait until the world is perfect? Should we wait until all injustice and misfortune are defeated? If we did, we might never get a chance to sing! Of course, the old favorite song, “Singing in the Rain” gives us a Continue Reading »
Dear Friends, I hope you will join us at services this Shabbat as we celebrate the bat mitzvah of Jordan Coltrain. Mazal Tov to Jordan and to her entire family! Finally! We can all be together again in person and on Zoom! And, thankfully, we can celebrate a bat mitzvah together! What a blessing! But, Continue Reading »
Dear Friends, How often do we get up in the morning and feel a natural need to stretch our muscles? Naturally, since we have not used them much when we were asleep, we need to “warm up” and to “stretch” our bodies in order to feel ready to take on the new day. The same is Continue Reading »
Dear Friends, I hope you will join us for services and events this weekend as we welcome our ISJL program associate, Sophie Bernstein! As I was reading this week’s parsha, Vayechi [and he, Jacob, lived…] I noticed that in describing the end of Jacob’s life, the Torah tells us that Jacob decided to gather his Continue Reading »
Dear Friends, I take this opportunity to wish you and your loved ones a Happy and Healthy 2023! How time flies…and yet Torah teaches us to keep our spirits up and not to give up on our personal and collective dreams and vision. This coming Tuesday is Asarah B’Tevet [the tenth day of the Jewish month Continue Reading »
Dear Friends, Who is really in charge? We often struggle with assuming responsibility for our actions. It is easy to say: So and so talked me into it. Or…It wasn’t my idea! But, despite all of those true or partially true circumstances, in most instances, we are still personally responsible for our actions. In our Continue Reading »
Dear Friends, Twice in our Parsha, we read the words: “Vayehi achar ha-devarim ha-eleh [And it happened after these events that…]” (Genesis 39:7; Genesis 40:1). Twice in our Parsha, we move from one scandalous event to another. And, these words suggest that there is a link between the event that preceeds them and the new Continue Reading »
Dear Friends, Life often has us rushing around non-stop from morning to night. We have so much we need to accomplish. We have so many responsibilities and so many worthwhile opportunities. In our weekly Torah portion, after their reconciliation, Jacob declines Esau’s offer to travel together with him saying: “You go on ahead, and I will Continue Reading »
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