by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 30, 2022 | God, Happiness and Joy, Israel, Lech Lecha
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz I have a special personal connection with this week’s Torah reading. 31 years ago, I was a chef in a fancy restaurant in Manhattan. I had a cool motorcycle and lots of cash to party and play. I had long hair and a tattoo. But I was angry all...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 23, 2022 | Community, Education, God, Good and Evil, Happiness and Joy, Hebrew Language, Psalms
By Rabbi Avi Baumol Much has been written about the first Psalm. Rav Yudan, a fourth century Palestinian scholar, considered it “the choicest of all Psalms.” That being said, it is incumbent upon us to understand the uniqueness of this poem, and why King David began...
by Rabbi Elie Mischel | f 13, 2022 | Happiness and Joy, Psalms, Shemini Atzeret
After seven glorious days of the Sukkot festival, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, the party is still not over! Today, the eighth day, is Shemini Atzeret, the Eighth Day of Assembly, when the people of Israel yet again celebrate together in great joy: “Seven...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 6, 2022 | Emor, Faith, God, Happiness and Joy, Prayer, Sukkot
By Rafi Weinstein Today is the first day of the seven-day holiday known as Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles). Though the Torah commands: “You shall live in booths seven days” (Leviticus 23:42), growing up in New York my family barely spent time in the sukkah...
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 16, 2022 | God, Gratitude, Happiness and Joy, Ki Tavo
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz I’ve been having a rough week; my job has been making extra demands, the refrigerator is making strange noises, and each of my teens has come to me with a new and expensive gadget they cannot live without. The High Holidays begin in less than...
