by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 21, 2022 | Chanukah, Covenant, Faith, Mikeitz, Mourning
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz Many scholars place Joseph’s descent to Egypt at around 1500 BCE. The Maccabees dedicated the Temple in year 165 BCE. These two events were separated by more than one thousand years and seem entirely disconnected, but the Torah portion that...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 9, 2022 | Elul, God, Marriage and Relationships, Mourning, Repentance, Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz Dani is a member of our small synagogue and every Shabbat, when we gather together after morning prayers, he jumps up and gives a speech on the weekly Torah portion. It isn’t nice to say, but his speeches drive me crazy. It always seems like...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 4, 2022 | God, Messiah, Mourning, Ninth of Av, Psalms, Redemption, Temple
Reading is magical. Reading can take you places you have never been and show you things you have never seen. It is almost as good as being there and reading fanatics know that in many ways, reading is better than watching a movie. It goes deeper. People who read the...
by Eliyahu Berkowitz | f 28, 2022 | Bible Study, Faith, Freedom, Good and Evil, Mourning, Ninth of Av, Prayer, Temple
On June 29th, 2022, Israel lost a great light last month when Rabbi David Weiss Halivni passed away in Jerusalem at the age of 94. A Professor of Talmud and recognized as a brilliant scholar, he served as the head of the Union for Traditional Judaism’s...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 19, 2022 | Covenant, Faith, God, Israel, Mourning, Pinchas, Redemption, Temple
I was walking past a bulletin board and saw the strangest notice: “I lost it. I don’t know what it is or where it is. I’ve never actually seen it. Some people say that it doesn’t belong to me but I really love it. Whatever it is.” This sounds strange but we do it all...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 15, 2022 | Mourning, Tammuz, Temple
My son had his blanky; the blanket he used in the crib when a baby. Over the years, we tried to replace it but to no avail. Now that he was ten years old, we had given up on replacing the now-tattered piece of cloth. I tried half-heartedly to protest when I saw him...
