When we sit around the Passover table every year, we don’t normally ask ourselves whether this is the shank bone of a sheep or of a goat. According to the Torah, before the Israelites left Egypt, God commanded, “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year; you shall take it from [...]
In the past year, I’ve been meeting with the Judaism and Art group, comprised of working artists from our congregation, to discuss artistic expression related to Judaic concepts. On Sunday, March 25, we will mount an exhibit of each member’s contribution. The artists will speak briefly about their works and the themes they explored. Painfully [...]
It is the time of year that we read about the Ten Plagues and the eventual liberation of the children of Israel from Egypt. Their thrust into the desert was the moment they became a people — a people of immigrants. For the rest of the Torah, they will be roaming the wilderness. So it’s not surprising that [...]
By its name, Jerusalem is a city of peace (“they shall regard peace”), and for centuries the object of hope for the Jewish people. The yearning to return to Jerusalem was not simply to return home, but to return to God, with Jerusalem acting as the bridge between earth and heaven. The Talmud (Taanit 5a) brings a midrash [...]
Dear members and friends, During the last three weeks, I have been enjoying an incredible trip around the beautiful United States. Visiting the breathtakingly massive rock formations within many of our national parks always reminds me of our fleeting existence. One of the most beautiful — and one hard to remain indifferent to — is the [...]
Dear Members and Friends, It was delightful seeing many of you during the High Holiday season. I hope you are beginning the new year with feelings of renewal, and that you are inspired to begin another year of individual and communal growth. As we were getting ready to begin the High Holidays, our congregation received a [...]
Last Shabbat, the Orient Congregational Church hosted an interfaith panel discussion in which I participated with Dr. Don Russo and Sheikh Ghassan Manasra. It was a unique opportunity to share a stage with Christian and Muslim colleagues for an interfaith dialogue. The main purpose of the discussion was to present our respective views of sharing [...]
The solar eclipse we witnessed to various degrees this week brought many Americans together and looking up to heaven. In a time when it seems we are drifting to greater social and political polarization, it was inspiring for me to see everyone having a common cause. For such a rare occasion, I drove with friends [...]
It was a hot day this week when we all gathered to welcome Dawn Mankow into the Jewish faith. I’m no longer surprised when people want to become Jewish. After all, we have a good product to offer. Yet, I never take it for granted. Some of the best-known rabbis and educators through Jewish history have [...]
Dear Friends, I just returned from the Maine Conference for Jewish Life, a project of the Center for Small-Town Jewish Life at Colby University. The idea of the conference is to draw interested Jews and friends from the surrounding areas and urban centers to the small town of Waterville to experience superior Jewish learning and joyous celebration. For those who [...]
