The Omer: counting the in-between moments
Dear Friends, Here are the remarks I delivered this past Friday at services on a special Jewish ritual at this time of year: *** A ritual that we’re called upon to engage with at this time of year—a mitzvah, a sacred act that we’re called upon to fulfill—is sefirat haomer, the counting of the omer. In the Torah, […]
A Dayenu Moment in Tennessee, Violence in Israel
Dear Friends, I write this week in part to speak up about what I see as a dayeinu moment in Tennessee. Dayenu is of course the song we sing during the Passover seder that comes on the heels of the recitation of the ten plagues, contrasting these plagues with the manifold blessings we have experienced from the Divine. We […]
Elijah’s Cup
Dear Friends, This past Shabbat, I delivered the following D’var Torah in preparation for Pesah: The last several weeks we have been reviewing a series of special shabbatot, special sabbaths, that anticipate Purim and Passover, each of which have special parshiot, special torah portions, that help us prepare our hearts, our minds, and our spirits for the approaching […]
Welcoming Members Old and New
This past Friday night, I delivered the following D’var Torah in honor of our new members who have joined us over the last couple of years: In September, we held an “Open House” Shabbat, where we made a point to say we were “open” to everyone. Granted, we’re always open to anyone to come check […]
Israel’s Democracy on Pause: A Victory for Popular Protest and Judicial Balance
Dear Friends, What a week it’s been in Israel. We are in the midst of marking the 75th anniversary of the creation of the State of Israel, and never before has the country seen popular protests of this magnitude. Just today, over 100,000 people have been protesting outside the compound housing the Knesset, Israel’s legislature, […]