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Revelation, Pain, and Suffering…
Last week we celebrated the Jewish Festival of Shavuot. We marked the giving and receiving of the Torah, the Revelation. I read from the Torah scroll the Ten…
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A Shofar Column in the time of a pandemic
As a popular meme reminds us, 2020 is a leap year – there are 29 days in February and 300 days in March… As I think back over…
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POSTPONED: Siyum – a sacred celebration of ending a sacred task
I often talk about the importance of transitions in Judaism: the threshold marked with a mezuza, the start of Shabbat marked with candles and kiddush, the end of…
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On Memory and Ritual
Speak to the Israelite people and instruct them to make for themselves fringes (tzitzit) on the corners of their garments throughout the ages; let them attach a cord…
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Restoring the Holocaust Memorial Scroll #1178
Earlier this year a Torah scribe visited TE to inspect our Torah scrolls, provide minor repairs and to teach our students and our teachers a little about the…
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The month of Elul and the opportunities it offers us
Rosh Chodesh Elul falls on September 1st this year, a somewhat unusual aligning of the Hebrew and Gregorian calendars. The month of Elul offers us a chance to…
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Mazal Tov!
In most synagogues in America and around the world, July 1st is an important day. It is the start of the new fiscal year, when the old budget…
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Routines of our lives
Routines are important. We begin to learn the routines almost immediately after we are born: we sleep, we eat and everything in between. Parents of newborn children quickly…
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Holding a Torah Scroll…
Torah scrolls are very special. It is an incredible honor and privilege to read from the Torah scroll in front of the congregation. It requires skill and effort,…
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After Pittsburgh…
I often take too long to write my shofar articles, waiting for the ‘right’ moment to put together words that would resonate when the new TE Shofar will…
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Honoring TE traditions
Over the past few days we have been sorting through some of the archives of Temple Emanuel, and marveling at some of the history, including terrific photos, and…
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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…