Not “Goodbye” but “Be Seeing You” My dear Am HaYam Family, Our tradition teaches: kol hat-cha-lot kashot, “all beginnings are difficult.” This phrase has been something that many speakers, ancient and modern, religious or secular, have used. I myself have said it many times. But as I prepare to end...
The Value of the Violin in You The story is told of the great Jewish-born violinist Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962).[1] Some critics had suggested that the only reason he made such beautiful music was because of the Stradivarius he played. So on one particular concert night, Kreisler enraptured the audience with...
A Passover Lesson: Don’t Let Opportunities Become Chametz Why did the matzah quit his job?.…Because it didn’t get a raise. What army base is off limits on Passover?.…Fort Leavenworth. Why did the matzah go to the doctor?.…Because it started feeling crumby Why did the matzah baker rob the bank?….He needed...
Purim: We’re Still Here The Purim story ominously portrays a serious and massive antisemitic event. And while the biblical book of Esther is a work of fiction, its story has shaped Jewish consciousness and our approach to antisemitism. Let’s begin by acknowledging that this austere and grim tale is...
The Witness of Conscience Our tradition tells of a certain rabbi with a strict sense of justice. Far and wide he was known as an incorruptible judge. One day his own wife raised an outcry because she believed that the housekeeper had stolen a piece of jewelry that was of...
STARTING OVER Every morning, weekday or Shabbat, we Jews traditionally praise G!d as m’chadesh ma’asei v’reishit, “the Renewer of Creation.”[1] G!d fashions something new each and every day. That includes renewing us, so that we can live out in wholeness what life may bring us this, and every, day. We...
The Menorah, the Maccabees, and Us: A Spark of the Divine On Hanukkah the central religious action we undertake is the lighting of the candles. The tiny candles have always stirred powerful feelings among us. As Dr. Paul Romanoff[1] wrote: For centuries the Menorah burned constantly. In its light...
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....
T’shuvah: Time for a Tune-Up The buzz word during these days of preparation for the High Holy Days is the Hebrew word t’shuvah. Most translations render the word “repentance,” but that is, at best, a pallid attempt to convey the richness of the Hebrew original. The English “repentance” means “feeling...
Rabbi’s Recent Letter to Our Am HaYam Family Dear Am HaYam Family, On a recent Shabbat, we read in the Torah, Parashat Va-Et-chanan, the following: וָאֶתְחַנַּ֖ן אֶל־יְהֹוָ֑ה בָּעֵ֥ת הַהִ֖וא לֵאמֹֽר׃ I [Moses] sought out myself to G!d at that time. Rabbi Israel Salanter, the great 19th-century figure, posed the question,...
