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 »
Dear Friends, What is so special about Abraham? The magnificent thing about Torah is that we always discover new relevance in the weekly Torah portion. So, to me, today, what seems to be so special about Abraham is that he had the courage to be different. We are experiencing a significant rise in Anti-semitism these Continue Reading »
Dear Friends, I look forward to seeing you tonight at our RST dinner in the Sukkah, with the building of the edible Sukkah by the Religious School students! Such fun for all! We will all be invited for Kiddush and Motzi in the Sukkah (even if we are not staying for dinner). We will all Continue Reading »
Dear Friends, This Shabbat, Shabbat Shuvah [the Shabbat of Return] gets its name from the beginning of the special haftarah that we read on the Shabbat between Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur. This haftarah begins with the words of the prophet Hosea (14:2): “Shuvah, Yisrael, ad Adonai Elohecha…[Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God…].” Continue Reading »
Dear Friends, As we approach this final Shabbat of 5782 and prepare to welcome the new Jewish year of 5783, I would like to wish all of us a Shana Tova u’metukah – a sweet and a good year, filled with joy and blessings! And, I look forward to seeing many of you at services Continue Reading »
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