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Taking care of the stranger in the strange land
The three weeks between the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av are a period of mourning in Jewish tradition. On the 17th of Tammuz the walls…
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Bringing comfort to Ukrainian refugees
As many of you know, I have just returned from spending a week in Poland as a volunteer. The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) and American Jewish…
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Mazal Tov: celebrating a Jewish milestone
Judith Kaplan, at age twelve, became the first woman to celebrate a Bat Mitzvah on March 18, 1922. Judith was the oldest daughter of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, the…
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Celebrating a TE milestone
A few years ago, while sorting through some of the archives of Temple Emanuel, and marveling at some of the history (including terrific photos and a collection of…
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Chanukah: time of re-dedication
The Festival of Chanukkah celebrates a historic moment of dedication – or rather, of re-dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Maccabees, following a successful revolt against…
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The month of Elul as the doorway to the High Holy Day Season
The arrival of the month of Elul in the Jewish calendar is always tinged with both excitement and sadness. The summer is beginning to wind down, and even…
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Mikdash mei’at – The ‘Small Sanctuary’ of our homes.
We have lived through a pandemic. No, we are not yet done with Covid-19 – it will continue to affect the world and our lives for some time…
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Resilient Leadership
“Resilience is often described as a personal quality that predisposes individuals to bounce back in the face of loss. Resilient leaders, however, do more than bounce back—they bounce…
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Freedom, Passover and the Pandemic…
Purim last year marked a powerful moment for many of us, marking the ‘before’ and ‘after’. It was the last time our religious school gathered in the building…
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The power of music and the legacy of Debbie Friedman.
Music stirs our souls in a way that words often cannot, activating emotions within us that we did not know existed… Music is such a strong presence in…
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Chazak, Chazak v’nitchazek – Be Strong, Be Strong, and Let Us Strengthen One Another.
By the time you read this column, the High Holy Days 5781 may seem like a distant memory, but I wanted to start by acknowledging what an incredibly…
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Man plans and God laughs.
דער מענטש טראַכט און גאָט לאַכט. Der mentsh trakht un got lakht. This summer was carefully planned in our household. Robert was headed to Europe and Israel for…