Rabbi

Keeping Connected В  January 2020

Dear Friends,

Recently I was visiting an art class in our Chai School, where for the prior 6 weeks the students had been learning about collage. Their project was to take the techniques that they had learned and apply them to a subject matter that meant a lot to them. It could be a personal issue or theme, or something they cared about in society, in particular with a focus on Tikkun Olam. I was very moved by all of More

Keeping Connected В  В December 2019

Dear Friends,

The Jewish world is like a family in which there has been and will always be vigorous debate about issues, beliefs, practices and more. This has been the case since Judaism emerged as a civilization. Seeking to understand and engage with this debate gets at the core of what being Jewish means. There have been so many, many debates through time:More

KEEPING CONNECTED NOVEMBER 2019

Dear Friends,

One of my favorite lines from The Sound of Music is when Maria says, “When the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window…” Although I do not necessarily believe the theology of this statement, I have often found that the sentiment rings true. Such a case occurred last April. The More

Keeping Connected В  October 2019

Dear Friends,

Despite the cultural differences that exist among people, there are many things that are shared by all of humanity. One of these traits is the existential desire to understand the “Big Questions” of life: How did the universe come to be? How was humanity created? How did life begin? Why is there death? Why is there evil in the world? Although our conclusions may be different, and although our More

Keeping Connected В September 2019

Dear Friends,

I am a person who is very attuned to the seasons and right now, on this last day of August, I am keenly aware that autumn is edging closer. Although our garden still has many tomatoes, the sunflowers are finally blooming and the grass STILL needs to be cut, the evenings have a chill that says change is coming. Birds are stopping at our feeders more often trying to fatten up before their More

Keeping Connected В August 2019

Dear Friends,

When I was first studying to be a rabbi in the 80’s, the then president of the Reform Movement, Alexander Schindler, made a priority of creating a program of OUTREACH to those members of congregations and the general community at large, that were interested in learning more about Judaism, potentially converting as well as supporting interfaith families in our congregations. In More

Keeping Connected В July 2019

Dear Friends,

In the span of a year, there are many days that take on greater significance than their neighbors; some for Jewish reasons and some for secular. Jewishly, the days of Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur and Passover, stand out from all the rest in the calendar as being important to the rhythms of Jewish life. For me personally, the awareness of their meaning and the practice of these holidays’ rituals adds a spiritual dimension to my life.  More

Keeping Connected В June 2019

Dear Friends,

It is with a great sense of humility and gratitude that I write to thank the entire Congregation Shalom community for the wonderful celebration of my 20-year tenure with the congregation. I am still feeling the glow and WOW of the evening! It was a beautiful event for everyone: wonderful music, story-telling, friendship, pictures, food, drink and more. The sanctuary and social hall were filled with flowers and smiling faces. The energy in the room was high and people loved being More

Keeping Connected В  В May 2019

What is a synagogue? A temple? The Temple? What was the Mishkan? What is a sanctuary? What is sacred space? What is sacred time? What is sacred? These are the types of questions that might be asked in a Jewish Trivial Pursuit game and they are questions that are being asked by members of our Mishkan Advisory Group. In the fall we shared with our members that the ritual committee had renamed itself the Mishkan Advisory Group. In thinking of our congregation as a mishkan, a place that holiness is present, our intent is to take a more holistic approach to spirituality, prayer, worship and ritual in our community than we have in the past.

At the end of March, the Mishkan Advisory Group held a moving holy book burial ceremony that involved our students and many members of our congregation. I would say that for those of us who were present, that experience felt like sacred time and the place that the books were buried, under the trees that were planted years ago by our students, will feel like a sacred place. I am sure that looking back on their religious school experiences, the students who participated will be sure to remember that day in their Jewish lives. Thank you to all who participated in helping to make that ritual a success: Lynne Rothstein, Mitch Hyatt, Josh Degen, Ethel Kamien and all the members of the committee. In the summer and fall, Linda Lischer will help us with plantings around where the books are buried so that this location will become a place that our members might want to visit for inspiration.More

Keeping Connected В April 2019

Spring is just around the corner and we will soon be celebrating Passover, the Festival of Freedom. Pesach is a holiday that evokes differing emotions and meanings. We look forward to connecting with family and friends. We anticipate with excitement eating foods made from recipes that have been handed down through many generations of our family. Some of us love to create new family traditions that we can pass down to our children. We might set our tables with family heirlooms like silver bechers and old seder plates that belonged to grandparents or great-grandparents or we might set our tables in a dramatic manner that recalls being in Egypt. We debate whether matzah balls should be hard or light and whether we should make a traditional ashkenazic charosets versus a dried fruit and savory style version from another region of the world. Versions of haggadot also ABOUND! There is the Maxwell House that many of us grew up with and contemporary versions galore that focus on themes of social justice. There are haggadot geared to young kids and haggadot that are theme-based; yes, there is a baseball haggadah, a Harry Potter haggadah, a vegan haggadah and more!More