Blogs

Before I get to this week’s Shabbat message I wanted to say two things:

1. Thank you to all who answered our survey about the High Holy Days. This year’s service will be streamed on Zoom, but with your feedback we will ensure a meaningful and spiritual service. For those who would still like to answer the survey, here are the questions:

This past week I had the opportunity to sit in on two zoom calls with the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR, the rabbinical union for Reform rabbis) about the High Holidays. The consensus among the congregations is that this year’s High Holidays will look different and most likely will require some type of streaming for us to gather as a community.

As you can imagine this creates a tremendous amount of fear and excitement...Read more...

The first time I went skiing - I mean really skiing - I remember the next day I was sore all throughout my legs. Turns out I had used muscles I have never used before. Muscles that were weak suddenly got a workout.

I liken the last three months to a similar experience. Mental muscles that perhaps I never got to exercise before suddenly were being used in earnest. However, as any good fitness expert will tell you, you need to give...Read more...

Over the holidays this past year, I talked about Din and Rachamim - justice and mercy. I spoke about how we constantly have to balance between these two poles. Sometimes we need to judge others, and other times we need to be lenient and err on the side of mercy. If this is true of how we treat others, then it is equally true of how we treat ourselves.
 

For those of us working at home I worry we may be erring a little too...Read more...

A situation arises.  We think of the problem and ask a question.  We ask the question in hopes that it will help us find the answer to the problem at hand.  However, very often in life the key is not asking a question, but knowing what question to ask.  Shabbat is such a time. 

Often the conventional understanding of Shabbat is that we are to cease from work on the Sabbath.  However, for the Rabbis of the...Read more...