by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 10, 2023 | Fear of God, God, Humility, Justice, Kindness and Compassion, Leadership, Shemot
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz “You’re a lot shorter in person than I expected.” That is the phrase that actors hear most often. It is the flip side of the “larger than life” perception of famous people. Science fiction stories about time machines always portray the...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 9, 2022 | Covenant, Faith, Fear of God, Freedom, God, Hebrew Language, Humility, Psalms, Responsibility
By Rabbi Avi Baumol These two verses form the bridge between the two halves of Psalm 8. In the first verse, King David asks “what is man that you have been mindful of him?” implying that Man is nothing at all. In the second verse, David continues...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 22, 2022 | Fear of God, God, Happiness and Joy, Hebrew Language, Prayer, Psalms, Rosh Hashana
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz When I first started my journey toward “being religious”, I was concerned about the prayers on Rosh Hashana. During the rest of the year, we bow at the waist while reciting the Aleinu prayer. But on Rosh Hashana, we prostrate ourselves fully,...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 20, 2022 | Fear of God, Holiness, Shemini
The Torah describes the death of Nadab and Abihu, the two eldest of Aaron’s four sons, as a punishment for bringing “alien fire, which He had not enjoined upon them” (Leviticus 10:1). The tragedy took place on the eighth day of the inauguration, the first official day...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 17, 2022 | Fear of God, God, Hebrew Language, Ki Tisa, Prayer, Resurrection
There is no doubt that Moses was close to God, even speaking with Him “face to face, as one man speaks to another” (Exodus 33:11). But Moses wanted even more and requested, “Oh, let me behold Your Presence!” (33:18). God assented to His faithful servant’s request but...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 18, 2022 | Community, Covenant, Education, Fear of God, God, Yitro
When Moses presented the Jews with the prospect of receiving the Torah at Sinai, they respond: “All that Hashem has spoken we will do!” (Exodus 19:8). This expression of acceptance was repeated and expanded in a phrase that has characterized Jewish observance...
