Pirkei Avot, Ethics of our Ancestors, 2:2, says, “Those who work for the community should do so for the sake of Heaven; for the merit of their ancestors shall aid them, and their righteousness shall endure forever.
What does it mean to work for the sake of heaven?
According to Dr. Joshua Kulp, working for the sake of heaven means, “people who work with the community should do so for the right reasons, “for the sake of...Read more...
I love history. One of the aspects of Reform Judaism that I cherish is that it puts an emphasis on the importance of history in terms of understanding Judaism. In traditional Judaism there is a concept which renders history irrelevant. This concept is ein mukdam v’ein muchar ba’Torah, “there is no before and there is no after in the Torah”. This idea means that historical order is non-existent or...Read more...
Prince Philip of England passed away today. As I thought about his passing, I thought of Jewish prayers for non-Jewish kings and queens. My mind almost immediately went to the scene from Fiddler on the Roof when a peasant asks the Rabbi, “Is there a prayer for the czar?” The Rabbi responds, “May the lord bless and keep the czar… Far away from us”.
However, in researching this quote (to make sure I...Read more...
Starting with the second night of Passover we have entered into a new phase known as the counting of the omer. The Omer is the counting of the days between the second night of Passover and Shavuot. The tradition of counting the omer comes from the following passage in the Torah “you must count until the day after the seventh week—fifty days; then you shall bring an offering of new grain to the LORD” (Leviticus...Read more...
Please join us tonight for Sheldon Low at 7:00pm for a special Passover seder.
This past week I came across two texts from our tradition that highlight two of the very different ways to approach life. One approach is to recognize the hardship of life and recognize that those hardships will make you stronger. The other approach is to allow optimism, and hope to empower our journey. Neither approach is the right or...Read more...
I was reading an interesting article this week that analyzed a TV show that was recently on the air. The show in question was a show on Disney+ called WandaVision. The show WandaVision is the story of two superheroes trapped in a sitcom reality.
The show aired over the course of 10 weeks, each week airing a new episode with mysteries and story for the audience to appreciate and attempt figure out the show’s many mysteries....Read more...
This week’s Torah portion is one of the most pivotal and iconic stories in Judaism. It is the story of the Golden Calf. The Israelites, becoming stressed and scared about Moses’ prolonged absence, decide to build themselves a god in the form of a calf made of their gold. This act assuages their fear. Moses comes down and sees the calf and loses his temper and smashes the two tablets he is carrying on the...Read more...
Last night was our Purim spiel (I played Haman again, not sure what the people doing the casting are telling me) and it was amazing. We will be posting on the website next week in case you missed it. Tonight I will be talking about the notion of self-sacrifice in Judaism. In light of Esther sacrificing her life to save her people, it got me thinking about when sacrifice of oneself is okay, and other times it is not. ...Read more...
Can hate be a virtue? Does hate always have a deleterious effect, or can it be a constructive soul practice on occasion? I invite you to join me tonight as I speak to whether hate can be a good thing for humans to practice.
This question arose for me as I attended a zoom lecture held by the American Jewish Archives entitled: “Confronting Hate in a Broken World”.
While tonight I will be discussing the virtue of...Read more...
