More than 100 people celebrated the holiday of freedom with us this year — two Seders at our shul and two additional model Seders, one for the Greenport Ecumenical Ministries (GEM) and another at San Simeon By The Sound. Passover doesn’t mean only to pass over, but to pass over to our children the knowledge and, [...]

Dear members and friends, It was nice to come back to Greenport, to budding trees and bushes. With Purim behind us and Passover ahead, it’s time for us to get ready for spring — to take off the Purim masks and begin clearing out the rising agent in our leavened selves. It’s time to remember how [...]

Dear members and friends, Shalom from Israel! The day after I finished a 10-day interfaith pilgrimage to the Holy Land, I was sitting with friends, watching the evening news report of President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s meeting in Washington D.C. It’s always comforting to see a display of friendship between an American president and an [...]

Dear members and friends, Let me begin my message this month by wishing our new president success in keeping America great. The atmosphere in which President Trump begins his term is challenging. The various camps in America clearly represent different views of social arrangement, but it is crucial to find the middle ground that brings us together. This [...]

All I was hoping for was an enjoyable post-High Holidays trip, driving through seven mostly Eastern European countries in three weeks. (Yes, I do find it relaxing.) The idea was to visit the countries, and to see some of the lesser-known sites. I was traveling with a WWII veteran, who is half a century ahead [...]

Dear Members and Friends, As I'm traveling through Europe, I witness how strongly the events in America still reverberate throughout the world. Most newspapers are showing President-elect Trump or President Obama on his trip in Europe endorsing our democracy. As many of you, I was awake most of Tuesday night, Nov. 8, following the intricate [...]

Dear Members and Friends, It was wonderful to see so many of you on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur; it always feels like an extended family reunion. After several months of preparation and excitement, then a few days of long and intense prayers, and one long fast day, comes the moment of the last blast [...]

We are just a few days from New Year 5777, and I sense excitement in the air. For Jews, the High Holidays are the spiritual Olympics; it’s time to stretch and give it all we can. It’s time to win ourselves back like an Olympic medal. In a few days, the moon will disappear and will reemerge [...]

In a couple of weeks, at our annual Journal Dinner-Dance, we will celebrate Tifereth Israel’s 115th anniversary. The event will be held this year on Sept. 11, at the Sound View Restaurant. We will see many familiar faces, and we will remember those who are no longer with us. One of the strengths of our Jewish community [...]

Dear Members and Friends, It was a great honor to share the stage with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor at the Orient Annual Heritage Day on July 3. Her words, said on the little porch in front of the Old Point Schoolhouse on Village Lane, are still reverberating truth. The event took place shortly after [...]