by Maayan Lev As a child, Sukkot was a very big holiday in my family. In fact, it may have been the biggest holiday of the year for us. This is because we had dinner in the sukkah together every night, usually inviting a different family to join us each...
What Am I Afraid Of?–Psalm 27 and the Use of the Month of Elul One of the ways that our tradition invites us to prepare for the High Holy Days is to recite and reflect upon Psalm 27 twice a day for the High Holy Day season, which leads into...
Writing Our Song: A Reflection on Our Year of Learning (Teaching/D’var Torah delivered by Rabbi Sacks on May 22, 2022 on the occasion of our siyyum, the conclusion of our year of learning) We will be arriving at Mount Sinai spiritually once again as continue our way through the...
From Our Rabbinic Intern’s Desk The Changing Focus of Passover in Our Day: From Pandemic to Ukraine Another year has come and gone, and Passover/Pesach will soon be upon us once again. Nisan, the month of Passover, and not Tishrei, the month of Rosh HaShanah, is referred to in the...
Expressions of Peace: A Journey and Prayer through Jewish Texts (A Contemporary Piyyut,[1] first recited on March 13, 2022[2]) Rabbi J.B. Sacks Our tradition teaches: “The sword comes to the world because of a delay of justice and through perversion of justice.”[3] God cries out: “Oh, my suffering,...
From the Rabbi’s Study Cleaning Our Temple from the Idols We Worship Two seasoned sailors heard the chaplain preach on the Ten Commandments. When the sermon was over, one sailor muttered to his friend, “Well, at least I never made any graven images.” That sailor, like most of us, looked...
From the Rabbi’s Study The Narrow Bridge We’re On, and the Courage of Hanukkah Rav Nachman of Bratzlav taught that, “The world is a very narrow bridge. What’s essential, however, is to fear not.” Artist Michael Morgenstern was inspired by Rav Nachman to create this work of art: We are...
From the Rabbi’s Study Indispensable in Our Small Parts Humans seem to have evolved from common ancestors. Scientist point to homo habilus.“handy man,” and others that are part of the homo grouping, known for their brain size and structure, and their use of tools. Homo habilus existed between 1.4 million...
Judge Joseph Franklin Rutherford¹ a major figure in the development of Jehovah’s Witnesses, preached the motto they quickly adopted: “Millions now living will never die.” One observer remarked, “Yes, but the tragedy is that millions now living are already dead but do not know it.” In line with this observer,...
