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B'reishit 5779: Fallen Angels

10/07/2018 02:32:59 PM

Oct7

Like many precocious children, I went through a phase where I was obsessed with Greek and Roman mythology. This was especially true around the time when the Disney Hercules movie came out in 1997. I had a number of books that described in detail the various gods, demigods and mythical figures that so captured the ancient imagination. There was something appealing about the stories of conflict among the gods and the exploits of super-human...Read more...

Shemini Atzeret/Yizkor 5779: Unfinished Business

10/04/2018 06:37:12 PM

Oct4

When I was a teenager, I spent my summers at Camp Ramah. One of my close friends there was named Jake. Jake was a special person. He was friendly, outgoing and kind. He had an interest in martial arts and in long philosophical conversations. I was mostly interested in the later. He, my brother and I often had long conversations about religion and politics that would go late into the evening.

In a way that only a free-thinking...Read more...

Sukkot 5779: Simple Joys

10/04/2018 06:33:29 PM

Oct4

A few days ago, Daniel and I had the pleasure to host the staff of KTI in our sukkah for lunch. The sun was shining as we sat in the shelter of the sukkah on a crisp fall day. The food was fresh and delicious and the company enjoyable. While we do spend a lot of time together, we rarely get the opportunity just to enjoy each other's company, celebrate our hard work and to form the bonds between us.

The elements of this experience were...Read more...

Kol Nidre 5779: Neighbor

09/20/2018 08:02:43 PM

Sep20

It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood,

A beautiful day for a neighbor.

Would you be mine?

Could you be mine?

I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you!

I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.

So let's make the most of this beautiful day,

Since we're together we might as well say,

Would you be mine?

Could you be mine?

Won't you be my neighbor?

Won't you...Read more...

Yom Kippur/Yizkor 5779: Choice

09/20/2018 07:56:29 PM

Sep20

Why me? A few weeks ago, a man called me up to discuss the ongoing difficulties in his life. A number of years ago, he had lost close family members in a gruesome accident, and had struggled ever since to feel whole. The loss had affected his health and his financial situation. “Why me?” he wanted to know. Why have I experienced so much suffering in my life?

“Why me” is a question most of us have probably asked at some point in...Read more...

Rosh Hashanah Day 2: Hospitality

09/12/2018 02:33:10 PM

Sep12

As I look back personally on the past year this Rosh Hashannah, one theme that emerges is being a guest. This has been a year full of transitions for me, and many of those transitions involved time away from home in new places. I had my monthly pulpit in Woodbury, CT, staying in a hotel there once a month to serve as that small community's rabbi. I traveled to quite a few synagogues around the country that were looking for rabbis, including here...Read more...

Rosh Hashanah Day 1: Ancestral Merit

09/12/2018 02:30:09 PM

Sep12

RH1 Sermon

This morning, as I lead this community for the first time on the holidays, I want to continue to introduce myself to you by sharing one of my most precious memories.

When I was a little boy, I would go with my father and much of his extended family to visit his grandfather, Samuel Goldberg, whom I called Pop's Pop. Pop's Pop was well into his 90's then, and he lived in a Jewish nursing home in Philadelphia. It so happened...Read more...

Ki Tetzei 5778: Forgiveness

08/28/2018 07:26:41 PM

Aug28

Ki Tetzei 2018

Michael Veley is a retired corrections officer from Brush Prairie, Washington. He currently is in treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a very serious and possibly terminal disease. Michael and his wife wanted to go on vacation to relax during the rounds of intensive treatment, and to travel together while they still could. So they booked a trip to Italy.

But on their first day in Venice, Michael suddenly found...Read more...

Shof'tim 5778: Whole Hearted

08/22/2018 05:29:18 PM

Aug22

Whole Hearted: Shof'tim 5778

 

Deuteronomy 18:9-13

 

(ט) כִּ֤י אַתָּ"֙ 'ָּ֣א אֶל־"ָאָ"רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־"' אֱלֹקֶ-יךָ נֹתֵ֣ן לָ'ךְ לֹֽא־תִלְמַ֣" לַעֲשׂ"וֹת כְּתוֹעֲ'ֹ-ת "ַ'ּוֹיִ֥ם "ָ"ֵֽם׃ (י) לֹֽא־יִמָּצֵ֣א 'ְךָ" מַעֲ'ִ֥יר 'ְּנֽוֹ־וּ'ִתּ-וֹ 'ָּאֵ'שׁ...Read more...

R'eih 5778: Home Base

08/22/2018 05:27:32 PM

Aug22

Home Base | R'eih 5778

 

Deuteronomy 13:13-16 (י') כִּֽי־תִשְׁמַ֞ע 'ְּאַ-ַ֣ת עָרֶ-יךָ אֲשֶׁר֩ "' אֱלֹקֶ֜יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לְךָ֛ לָשֶׁ֥'ֶת שָׁ-ם לֵאמֹֽר׃ (י") יָצְא֞וּ אֲנָשִׁ֤ים 'ְּנֵֽי־'ְלִיַּ֙עַל֙ מִקִּרְ'ֶּ"ךָ וַיַּ"ִּ֛י-וּ אֶת־יֹשְׁ'ֵ֥י עִירָ-ם לֵאמֹ'ר...Read more...
Tue, May 30 2023 10 Sivan 5783