Our B'nai Mitzvah Students: Noah Rockoff on Trust
10/05/2018 08:20:10 PM
There are four traits that I believe are key to being a Jewish adult: prayer, analysis, leadership and teaching. These are the four tasks that every Bar and Bat Mitzvah demonstrate during their ceremony. They engage the congregation in prayer. They analyze the Torah and read it closely. They lead the service. Then lastly, they teach.
I would like to share some of the teachings that these young men and women have come up...Read more...
High Holy Day Appeal
09/27/2018 11:40:36 PM
The other day somebody came up to me and asked if it was alright for them to attend Torah study.
I asked, “why wouldn't it be alright?”
They replied, “well I haven't paid my dues yet.”
I paused for a moment and responded, “First, of course you can come to Torah study. Second, don't think of dues as your admission into the synagogue rather think of the money that you...Read more...
On Granting Forgiveness
09/21/2018 02:17:04 AM
The Rambam teaches us, “Yom kippur wipes clean wrongs committed between a person and God. For Yom Kippur to atone for sins between people a person must go and ask for forgiveness.
The Rambam continues, “It is forbidden for a person to be cruel and refuse to be appeased. Rather, he should be easily pacified, but hard to anger. When the person who wronged him asks for forgiveness, he should forgive...Read more...
On Joy
09/21/2018 02:11:27 AM
Joy and thriving are not the journey but the destination. According to Archbishop Desmund Tutu, “if you set out to be joyful you're not going to be joyful”. Joy happens when we follow patterns adapted from virtues and live in attunement with people and in harmony with the greater world.
The Dali Lama and Desmond Tutu identified eight pillars to help us live lives of Joy.
The first pillar is perspective. ...Read more...
Emotional Reflection
09/14/2018 01:29:34 AM
A wave crashes on a person. They begin to drown, and then breathe as the wave passes. They can either be afraid to go into the water for the rest of their life or they can try and look at the experience in a novel way. We all experience life, but the key is how we interpret it.
The past influences how we experience the present How we experience the present focuses us on the path we want to take in the...Read more...Personal homiletics
09/14/2018 01:25:23 AM
Let me ask you a question: Who is in charge of your relationship and understanding of God? Is it you? Or is it me the Rabbi? Or is it the media? Or is it our tradition?
One day I was teaching a group of parents. I was curious why the parents belonged to the synagogue. I was curious what Judaism meant to them. So, I asked them why do you belong here? They proceeded to talk about their children as the reason they were...Read more...
Enjoying the Passage of Time
08/31/2018 07:59:28 PM
“The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time. Any fool can do it, there ain't nothing to it.” These words were sung by James Taylor. While he probably did not have Shabbat in mind, he might as well have been talking about the heart and soul of the Sabbath: time.
What is time actually? Time is the fluid in which we all swim. Time is an intangible thing. Time cannot be found or created. Time is not an abstract...Read more...
Material Things
08/24/2018 10:46:23 PM
What is the role that material things should play in our lives? What is their place in our spiritual make up? In “The Sabbath” by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel he articulates a paradigm for how humans relate to their surroundings. This paradigm is expressed through the concepts of space and time.
Space for Heschel is what he calls technological civilization. For Heschel, “Technical civilization stems primarily from the...Read more...
Hello from Camp Eisner
08/17/2018 09:49:47 PM
Yesterday Jodi and I went up to camp Eisner and Crane lake to visit our kids up there. I do not know who was happier to see who, us or them. All I can say is it is such a treat for Jodi and I, as the educator and Rabbi for this community, to have such wonderful kids to visit!
Read more...
Jewels of Elul
08/10/2018 09:26:02 PM
Craig Taubman is a singer/songwriter and music producer based in Los Angeles, California. For several years now Craig has offered "Jewels of Elul", daily reflections delivered by email, in preparation for the High Holy Days. Craig writes:
A few months ago, I went out to lunch with Bruce, an old friend, who asked me what it would take to bring back Jewels of Elul? I answered, “Time and money.” He said,...Read more...
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