Dear Friends, Passover has come and gone. We are back to eating chametz! If we observed Passover traditionally, for the whole week of Passover, we limited our food to Kosher for Passover foods. And this limitation that we set on ourselves had meaning for us. We limited ourselves to remember that we too were Continue Reading »
Dear Friends, One thing is sure….This Passover is going to be different from any Passover we have ever experienced. But, having a different Passover may just give us new perspectives on the holiday. We will have an extra zoom session during the intermediate days of Passover, after the Seder/s, and I would love to hear Continue Reading »
Dear Friends, Here we are trying to figure out ways to gather together virtually and we happen to be reading the double Torah Portion of VaYakhel-Pekudei. The Hebrew word VaYakhel means: And he (Moses) gathered the people. We have been rising to the challenge of gathering together using the technological medium of Zoom! As I Continue Reading »
Dear Friends, In light of our current situation which includes recommendations of “social distancing”, I share with you a wonderful reading by Rabbi Yosef Kanevsky: “Every hand that we don’t shake must become a phone call that we place. Every embrace that we avoid must become a verbal expression of warmth and concern. Every inch Continue Reading »
Dear Friends, Although a Jewish community as a whole is supposed to do everything in its power to ensure that there is a minyan present at all services, there is usually no personal obligation for any Jewish individual to be present at any particular service….However, this Shabbat is the exception to the rule! On this Continue Reading »
Dear Friends, I hope you will join us for services this Friday evening as we celebrate volunteers in all spheres of life. Come to hear about the various places and ways in which our congregational friends voluntarily give of their time, resources and talents for the good of others! Coincidentally, this week we read the Continue Reading »
Dear Friends, I have always been disturbed by the sudden drop from the heights of redemption and of the receiving of the Torah on Mount Sinai in last week’s Torah portion to the mundane laws about slavery that we learn about in this week’s Torah portion. What a let down! What a disappointment! However, this Continue Reading »
Dear Friends, I hope you will join us this Shabbat as we celebrate the baby naming of Midge Elizabeth, daughter of Sara Traster and David Harriss! Mazal Tov Midge’s entire family! We will officially give Midge her Hebrew name during the Torah service on Shabbat morning and toward the end of the service we will Continue Reading »
Dear Friends, It’s nice to know what to expect when we come to services. It’s nice to feel comfortable in our surroundings. Yet, when Moses asks Pharaoh to let our people go so that they may worship God, Moses tells Pharaoh something surprising. Moses tells Pharaoh that he cannot know in advance how exactly will Continue Reading »
Dear Friends, It’s often hard to decide when to act and when to let something slide…. In our weekly Torah portion, Shemot, we read of Pharaoh’s decree to drown the newborn baby boys, born to the Israelite people in Egypt. Joseph died and was forgotten. The good that Joseph had done for Egypt was, seemingly, Continue Reading »
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