Praying for the Peace of Jerusalem and Israel

Praying for the Peace of Jerusalem and Israel  On Shabbat and holy days, our Sephardic and Mizrachi sisters and brothers recite Psalm 122, a late Psalm, in which holy day pilgrims in Jerusalem reflect on what it might have been like for pilgrims of prior eras to be in Jerusalem....

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PAINTING JERUSALEM: Modern Artists Portray Jerusalem

PAINTING JERUSALEM: Modern Artists Portray Jerusalem (A teaching by Rabbi Sacks in honor of Yom Yerushalayim, May 18, 2023)  [NOTE: This was part of a two-part session. Lifelong Learning Chair Fran Lande taught the first part, which focused on how Jerusalem remains sacred to three major world religions: Judaism, Christianity,...

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Israel Shabbat: Celebrating Israel’s 75th Birthday

Israel Shabbat: Celebrating Israel’s 75th Birthday (Special services and a Shirah B’tzibbur Singalong were held on April 21-22) We celebrated Israel’s 75th birthday with a special Israel Shabbat. On Friday night Rabbi Sacks and Student Rabbi Maayan Lev led us in a special liturgy conceived, compiled and edited by Rabbi...

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Israel: Sing A Song of Home

A story emerged from Russia years ago that expresses a truth about Jewish life and the importance of Israel. The secret police in the Soviet Union knocked upon the door of a Russian Jew. They accused him of corresponding with a foreign agent named Rabinovitz in the state of Israel....

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How Eretz Yisrael Was Conquered

The books of Joshua and Judges offer two competing views of how Eretz Yisrael (the land of Israel) was conquered in biblical times. The book of Joshua argues that the conquest by those who entered the land after our people’s 40 years of wandering was rather efficient, quick, and complete....

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