yizkor 2024: The Claimant's Stone
10/15/2024 04:45:13 PM
Rabbi Ben Goldberg
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Today, we think of Yom Kippur as one of, if not the most, important of the Jewish holidays. Yet, Yom Kippur may once have functioned as a prelude to the holiday that follows five days later: Sukkot. The purpose of Yom Kippur was to purge the Temple of the accumulated spiritual schmutz–the technical term is tum’a–of the previous year. This way, the Temple was prepared and ready for the week-long Sukkot festival, with its many sacrifices,...Read more...
Kol Nidre 2024: Divine Glory to Flesh and blood
10/15/2024 04:43:15 PM
Rabbi Ben Goldberg
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Do you remember the scene in Fiddler on the Roof, when Motel gets the new sewing machine? “Rabbi,” he asks. “Is there a blessing for a sewing machine?” “There’s a blessing for everything,” the rabbi replies. In the film, the rabbi then prays in Hebrew: May it be God’s will that the Divine Presence rest in the work of your hands. Not a bad blessing for a sewing machine, actually.
We do have blessings for so many things...Read more...
Rosh Hashanah Day 2 5785-2024: To Each Wave, I Bowed My head
10/06/2024 05:49:02 PM
Rabbi Ben Goldberg
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Once upon a time, a religious Jew was driving across the country. In Texas, he stopped at a diner, sat at the counter, and ordered some coffee. A cowboy sitting next to him asked, "Where are you from, stranger?” “New York.” “Well, partner, let me buy you a beer.” The man said, “Thanks, but I can’t.”...Read more...
Rosh Hashanah Day 1 5785-2024: A Thin Thread of Hope
10/06/2024 05:45:43 PM
Rabbi Ben Goldberg
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I had the opportunity to visit Israel just after Purim this past spring, on a long-planned group trip through Daniel’s work. It obviously ended up being a very different kind of trip, to a very different Israel, than what we anticipated when we planned it a year prior. One of the most difficult, but also most...Read more...
Yom Kippur / Yizkor 2023: Love is Like a braid
09/26/2023 11:08:29 AM
Rabbi Ben Goldberg
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To everyone’s surprise, including his own, the musician Paul Simon put out a new album this past spring. He thought he was done writing music, but one night, he awoke from a dream with the unshakable message from, well, somewhere, that he was to work on a project called Seven Psalms. He continued in this manner, rising in the middle of the night to jot down words that came to him, until he had written seven psalms.
The...Read more...
Kol Nidrei 2023: High Eyes
09/26/2023 11:07:05 AM
Rabbi Ben Goldberg
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Exactly 50 years ago today, the State of Israel faced an existential threat. While the KTI community assembled in this very room to observe Yom Kippur, including some people who are still with us today, Israelis faced their own “who will live and who will die” moment. In a surprising move, Israel found itself facing simultaneous attacks from Syria in the north and from Egypt in the west, an attack that caught most Israelis by surprise,...Read more...
Enough (Rosh Hashanah Day 2 2023)
09/18/2023 09:46:12 AM
Rabbi Ben Goldberg
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Last fall, you may remember, we at KTI held our long-delayed tag sale. Back in the spring of 2020, knowing that many people were using the extra time at home to clean out unneeded belongings, we invited people to bring their tag sale items to the synagogue, planning, it turned out naively, to hold our biannual tag sale as scheduled in the fall of 2020. Well, people plan and God laughs. We kept delaying the sale, and stuff kept accumulating in...Read more...
Loneliness and Belonging (Rosh Hashanah Day 1 2023)
09/18/2023 09:37:54 AM
Rabbi Ben Goldberg
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Today, on Rosh Hashanah, you all see me standing here on the bimah. But that actually gives a misleading impression of what most of my days are like. On a typical day, I might go read a book to the children in our Early Childhood Program. They mostly pay attention, but it’s a long day, and they are only 3 or 4 years old, and sometimes they have trouble listening. Then, I might go teach our seventh graders in Religious School. They mostly...Read more...
Yom Kippur / Yizkor 5783: Regrets, I've Had a Few
10/06/2022 11:53:23 AM
Rabbi Ben Goldberg
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You can tell a lot about what people value in a life
from what they choose to highlight when it ends.
As a rabbi, I have the privilege and responsibility
to attend more funerals than the average person,
certainly of my age. And what they say
about resume virtues versus eulogy virtues
is...Read more...
Kol Nidrei 5783: The Heart Knows the Bitterness
10/06/2022 11:52:27 AM
Rabbi Ben Goldberg
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My senior year of college, some Jewish students on my campus faced a dilemma. You see, Yom Kippur that year was a Saturday. It so happened that there was also a major football game at home that day, with the attendant tailgating and other events that made it a major social occasion. For me personally, this was not a conflict: I generally ignored the football scene to begin with, and would have made the choice to fast and be in...Read more...
Thu, February 6 2025
8 Shevat 5785
Photo Gallery
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Sunday ,
FebFebruary 9 , 2025
Sunday, Feb 9th 5:00p to 8:00p
Make the Super Bowl more fun and support KTI! No skill required to win - it's pure luck and pure fun! Here's how it works: A 10 x 10 grid is created so that there are 100 squares Each square is sold for $36 (50% supports KTI and 50% goes to payouts) Once all squares are sold, numbers 0 to 9 (each used once) are randomly picked for each column ("AFC Team") and row ("NFC Team") on the grid These numbers are then checked against the game score for the end of each quarter. If the score is double digits, the second number is used. Winning numbers are then awarded prizes: $360 for each of the 4 quarters and an additional $360 for the final score (if there is no OT, then 4th quarter and final score are the same, and receive $720) What do you have to do to get into the game? Simply buy a square (of a few!) for yourself, a friend or KTI Once all squares are filled in, numbers will be randomly assigned and the grid will be emailed to all participants. Purchase all squares by Friday, February 9 at noon -
Tuesday ,
FebFebruary 11 , 2025
Tuesday, Feb 11th 6:45p to 8:45p
Board? Come to a Charcuterie Class! Join Tracey Milbauer, founder of Share It Charcuterie, to learn how to craft your own charcuterie board! Tracey will teach you how to design your own charcuterie board for all your future entertaining needs from grand gatherings to intimate get togethers while you enjoy some wine and cheese in the company of KTI friends. Thursday, February 6th 6:45-8:45pm KTI Moadon $85 per person Space limited to 12 participants so sign up fast! RSVP REQUIRED -
Wednesday ,
FebFebruary 12 , 2025
Wednesday, Feb 12th 1:00p to 2:30p
Wednesdays, 1 - 2:30 PM, Social Hall Ever since Abraham’s famous argument with God, Judaism has been full of debate. Moses and Korah, David and Nathan, Hillel and Shammai, the Vilna Gaon and the Ba’al Shem Tov, Spinoza and the Amsterdam Rabbis . . . the list goes on. No wonder that Judaism cherishes the expression machloket l’shem shamayim, “an argument for the sake of heaven.” Beyond their historical importance, what makes these disputations so compelling is that nearly all of them, regardless of their epochs, are still being argued. The parade of characters spanning three millennia of biblical, rabbinic, and modern disputation reflects the panorama of Jewish history with its monumental political, ethical, and spiritual challenges. This series will examine Jewish responses to exile from the biblical period to our modern day. Considering texts from all genres of Jewish literary creativity, we will explore how the realities and iterpretaions Join as we re-open these timeless debates that lead us to the core of 3,000 years of Jewish conversation. • Justice: Abraham vs. God (October 19) • Holiness and Authority: Moses vs. Korah (November 9) • Inclusion: The Five Daughters vs. the Twelve Tribes (November 30) • Accountability and Morality: David vs. Nathan (December 21) • Resistance: Ben Zakkai vs. the Zealots (January 18) • Law: Hillel vs. Shammai (February 15) • Spirituality: The Vilna Gaon vs. the Baal Shem Tov (March 15) • Boundaries: Spinoza vs. the Amsterdam Rabbis (April 19) • Religious Evolution: Geiger vs. Hirsch vs. Frankel (May 10) • Zionism: Herzl vs. Wise (May 31) -
Wednesday ,
FebFebruary 12 , 2025
Wednesday, Feb 12th 7:30p to 9:00p
Opening the Siddur, Opening the Heart Wednesdays, 7:30 - 9:00pm Local Homes TBD The siddur (prayer book) is one of the great treasures of Jewish tradition. But for many of us, even if we attend services regularly, it remains a closed book. Together, we’ll explore some of the key passages of the siddur, learn a bit about their history, and consider what personal meaning we can derive from them. PLEASE RSVP -
Wednesday ,
FebFebruary 26 , 2025
Wednesday, Feb 26th 7:30p to 9:00p
Opening the Siddur, Opening the Heart Wednesdays, 7:30 - 9:00pm Local Homes TBD The siddur (prayer book) is one of the great treasures of Jewish tradition. But for many of us, even if we attend services regularly, it remains a closed book. Together, we’ll explore some of the key passages of the siddur, learn a bit about their history, and consider what personal meaning we can derive from them. PLEASE RSVP
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