Passover is just a week away — the spring holiday of new beginnings. For Jews, a new beginning always dovetails a previous episode. We are conflicted by hope for the future, and also harsh memories. Passover is one of those memorial days that evokes both, especially due to its proximity to Yom HaShoah, a week later. [...]
It was an exceptionally stormy Monday when we arrived at Ben Gurion Airport on Feb. 6. On our way from the airport to the hotel in Tel Aviv, hail was falling on the windshield of our minibus. Our group of 12 pilgrims, none ever having been to the holy land, were ushered into the country [...]
It had been raining all day last Thursday, but nothing could wash away my excitement. It was my first day back on campus after nearly a decade. The precipitation made me feel like a fish returned to the water. When I started at CTI, I was about to finish a second master’s degree at the [...]
Our rabbis teach us that when we go up to heaven, we are asked a few critical questions. The first one is the most important, and it’s not how often you attended synagogue or church. It’s a question that captures the bottom line of our humanity - “were you honest in business?” On April 3, 1968 Reverend, Dr. [...]
This month, we lost an amazing man — Rabbi Elliott Spar. Elliott was a colleague, a friend, and a mentor. One of his children, Ari Spar, is a member of our shul. For almost four decades, he was the rabbi of the Temple Beth Shalom congregation in Smithtown, the same pulpit for his entire rabbinate. He retired [...]
Last Friday, I returned from Israel with a small group of our congregants. During the trip, we took our time strolling throughout the land. It was a beautiful and intimate experience I am still savoring. Those who travel to Israel for the first time often are surprised to discover how hustling and bustling it is. [...]
Have you noticed that everything is moving faster these days…? A year feels like a month, a month like a week, and a week is a day. It was wonderful seeing everybody on the High Holidays. It was my 11th year celebrating with Congregation Tifereth Israel, but it felt as though we were there just a [...]
With the death and funeral of Queen Elizabeth II this week, hosts of people gathered around her coffin, waiting in never-ending queues just to get a glimpse of her majesty, even if just her spirit. It was the most watched event in human history. The “queen of the world” had passed away. People saw her as [...]
When our shul’s next-door neighbors built a pool in their backyard, I toyed with the idea in my mind, that if our synagogue wanted to expand, we could become a modern day “shul with a pool.” Sounds so cool. The phenomenon became popular in America in the early 20th century. In his book Shul with a Pool: The [...]
It was Thursday, June 30, a beautiful summer evening, an opportunity to launch the kayak at the beach located at the end of Fourth Street. At 7 p.m., my dog Chaya and I were on the water. My phone rang. I saw it was a congregant calling, so I took the phone out of my [...]
