-
Blessing for Gavi
This blessing was offered for a legally deaf congregant on his 50th birthday. Dear Gavi, Welcome to this moment! You made it through twists and turns and lessons learned and signs along the way to help you reach this day and I think I can speak in the name of all of us who’ve gathered…
-
Congregational Town Hall Meeting Remarks
This week’s Torah Portion “כִּֽי־תֵצֵ֥א” / “When you go out” contains over 70 commandments, whose consistency with the values we uphold as Jews and the ways in which our jewish lives are informed fluctuates greatly. For today’s teaching, rather than zooming in on the more challenging verses in our Parasha- I wanted to take a…
-
Intro to America the Beautiful
Towards the end of this week’s torah study session, I casually asked the group if they can recommend an appropriate tune for the weekend of July 4th, to be shared during services tonight. It was then that Rabbi Lisa informed us that “America the Beautiful’’ – considered to be one of the most universally known,…
-
Introduction to L’chu Neranenah
The indroduction below was given at a Healing Service. Go forth singing songs of joy to the Eternal – these words of invitation open up the weekly ritual of welcoming in the day of rest – the day I often refer to as the day where we switch from “doing” to “being”. Turning towards just…
-
The Essence of Torah
This Shabbat marks the beginning of the reading of the fifth book of Moses – a book which summarizes the last 40 years in the desert from Moses’ perspective, as he reaches the end of his leadership and the end of his life. Moses reminisces about both the past and the future in front of…