by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 4, 2023 | God, Psalms, Shabbat
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz Psalm 29 (The Israel Bible, pp. 1503-1504) is special in a deep way. Even though it is only 11 verses, it contains the name of God 18 times. 18 is an auspicious number in Judaism. The gematria (numerical value) of 18 equals chai (חי), meaning...
by Eliyahu Berkowitz | f 3, 2023 | Antisemitism, Chosen Nation, Holocaust Remembrance Day, Kings, Temple, Tenth of Tevet
High school was difficult for me. Not only was I an awkward teen but there was also a group of guys who, unbeknownst to me, had decided amongst themselves that they would make my life miserable. They would take turns playing pranks on me. At first, I thought I was the...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 2, 2023 | Parenting, Shabbat, Vayechi
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz Without a doubt, the sweetest part of the Sabbath is blessing my children. My children are older and no longer live at home. But when we do gather together at the end of a busy week, placing my hands on their bowed heads, invoking God’s...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 1, 2023 | Antisemitism, Bo, Elul, Nisan, Shevat, Tishrei
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz While the entire world is celebrating, bringing in the new year, Jews are more subdued. Everyone else is flipping their calendars from 2022 to 2023, but the Hebrew calendar is already a quarter of the way through 5783. Why do the Jews have a...
by Eliyahu Berkowitz | f 26, 2022 | Chanukah, Haggai, Israel, Kislev, Responsibility, Revelation and Prophecy, Temple, Zechariah
I had a friend who was scrupulous about keeping a diary. Everything that happened went into his journal. And in his spare time, he updated his calendar to commemorate significant events. Along with the birthdays of friends and family, there were about ten days set...
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...
