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 »
Dear Friends, Transitions are notoriously unsettling, whether they are personal or communal. They often involve “losses” of some kind before we “regain” our equilibrium and sense of self. In our Torah Portion, Vayetse, Jacob is in personal transition. Jacob’s transition was shocking, as many of our transitions may be. Leaaving his familiar and familial setting, Continue Reading »
Dear Friends, Coming right after the turbulent parsha of Vayera which included the story of Sodom and Gemorrah and the Binding of Issac (Akedat Yitzhak), we arrive at this week’s Torah portion of Chayay Sarah which is made up of the ordinary business of life – taking care of funeral arrangements, finding a partner for Continue Reading »
Dear Friends, Today we salute our veterans. We remind ourselves that veterans are a part of us. We remind ourselves that veterans have served and must not be forgotten when they return home. The way in which we relate to veterans is a reflection on us as all as a community and as a society. Continue Reading »
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