Vayera Year 3: Did Abraham Pass the Test?
11/18/2019 11:49:32 AM
Some time afterward, God put Abraham to the test. We all know this story very well. We read it not only as part of the annual cycle of Torah reading as the fourth reading of the year, but also on the second day of Rosh Hashanah. Ostensibly this is supposed to be a test of faith – will Abraham follow God’s command and sacrifice his son?
And Abraham picked up the knife to slay his son. Then an angel of the Lord...Read more...
The First Yahrzeit
11/14/2019 07:38:56 AM
Heal us, God, and we shall be healed. Help us and save us, for You are our glory. Grant perfect healing for all of our afflictions, for You are the faithful and merciful God of healing. Praised are You God, Healer of His people Israel. [Siddur Sim Shalom, p. 5]
I don’t think that the author of this bracha, recited thrice daily in the...Read more...
On the Anniversary of Kristallnacht
11/07/2019 08:40:39 AM
“To avenge the brutal abduction of his Polish parents in Germany, 17-year-old Herschel Grynszpan, who was living in Paris, on November 7, 1938, walked into the Germany Embassy in Paris and shot Third Secretary, Ernst vom Rath. For Adolf Hitler, the shooting in Paris provided an opportunity to incite Germans to ‘rise in bloody vengeance against the Jews’. It supplied the pretext for massive Nazi pogroms launched again Jews in...Read more...
Now What?
11/01/2019 01:25:12 PM
The national and international media have left town. The television, print and online stories have nearly ceased. Every one of them told their story, and now is the calm and cleanup after the storm. I remember an article in the NY Times on February 14 of this year, reflecting on the first-year mark in Parkland. A student asked this question: When do we get the time to mourn? What an astute question, equally applicable...Read more...
Tree of Life, ONe Year Later
10/24/2019 09:00:00 AM
Rabbi Jeffrey Myers reflects on the shooting that claimed the lives of 11 beautiful souls who were worshiping in our building almost 1 year ago on October 27, 2018. He talks about the unintended consequences of this horror and offers words of hope.
Do You Want Faith with That?
10/17/2019 03:03:23 PM
You can look up the definition of “faith” in a dictionary, and read something such as: belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion; confidence or trust in a person or being; belief that is not based upon proof. They sort of have it right, but I suggest that it is much deeper. Faith is an internal set of controls that impact the choices that we make on a daily basis. It might not be genetic per...Read more...
The Most Important day
10/07/2019 06:52:14 PM
What do you think is the most important day in the Jewish calendar? Some will answer Yom Kippur, since we fast for 25 hours and plead to God to forgive our sins. Some will answer Shabbat. Some will answer Passover. I submit to you that while these are excellent answers, I offer a different one: the day after Yom Kippur. “The day after?” you inquire. What is so special about the day after Yom Kippur?
We will have spent the better...Read more...
Eleven Months
09/18/2019 09:45:05 AM
Today is the 18th day of the Hebrew month of Elul, eleven months after the 18th of Heshvan, which corresponds to October 27. Today concludes the recitation of Mourner’s Kaddish, although there will indeed be differences of opinion in this matter. For the sake of communal clarity and support, I have suggested today’s date. There are no formal ceremonies. Informal ones have been devised by many creative people, for the starkness of...Read more...
The Lessons I've Learned
09/13/2019 11:36:08 AM
There are certain dates within our lives that we remember most vividly, be they joyous or sad. 9/11 is one of those days. My congregation in Long Island was approximately a one-hour drive from Manhattan, and many NYC Firefighters lived in my...Read more...