fbpx

Rabbi’s Messages

I’m a baby when it comes to shots

Posted on July 1, 2021

I’ve never been good with shots or medical procedures.  I get anxious just thinking about it.  During previous flu seasons, I would psyche myself up to get an injection.  More often than not, I didn’t go through with it.  When it did happen, it was because I was already at my internist when she would Continue Reading »

Is it Kosher for Passover?

Posted on March 1, 2021

March/April 2021  “And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for in this same day have I brought your ranks out of the land of Egypt; therefore shall you observe this day in your generations by an ordinance forever.  In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall Continue Reading »

I got the Covid blues

Posted on January 1, 2021

Jan/Feb bulletin 2021 Is it because I have at least 4 crumbled face masks in my purse at any given time?  Maybe it’s the multiple bottles of hand sanitizer that are strewn on my desk and rolling around in my car.  Perhaps, it’s because I can’t go to the movie theater or restaurants.  Or is Continue Reading »

Thanksgiving is different this yeear

Posted on November 1, 2020

For as many years as I can remember, I make pilgrimage to my home town of Buffalo to spend time with family and celebrate Thanksgiving with the Northmans. The Northmans are dear family friends and they invite anywhere up to 40 people to their beautiful home nestled by creek. Starting around 3:00 in the afternoon, Continue Reading »

Community in times of uncertainty

Posted on September 1, 2020

“Just as the hand, held before the eye, can hide the tallest mountain, so the routine of everyday life can keep us from seeing the vast radiance and the secret wonders that fill the world.” Chasidic, 18th century, page 3 in Gates of Repentance Are there things that get in the way of seeing the Continue Reading »

Community in times of uncertainty

Posted on July 7, 2020

July / August 2020 Back in March, when we began to move our synagogue services and programming to Live stream, Zoom, and Facebook, most of us thought it would last a few weeks or at most a month or two. But here we are. It’s summer time and there’s a lot of uncertainty about the Continue Reading »

Cookies, Counting, and Covid

Posted on April 29, 2020

May/June Megillah 2020- Hmm, I’m picturing making chocolate chip cookies.  I’ll blend the softened butter with sugar and add the eggs and vanilla.  I especially like to put in some peanut butter.  It cuts down on the sweetness.   And then of course the flour, baking powder, salt, and lots of good quality chocolate chips.  I Continue Reading »

What makes this night different?

Posted on March 3, 2020

A highlight of the Passover seder is when the youngest child present, sings, “Ma Nishtana ha layla hazeh…” Why is this night different from all other nights?  It’s heart-warming to see the next generation actively participating in one of our most beloved holidays.  Back almost two thousand years ago, in the Mishneh, though tells us Continue Reading »

Vote Reform in the World Zionist Elections January 21-March 11, 2020

Posted on January 8, 2020

Even from America’s shores, we can impact Israel by voting for the 38th congress in the World Zionist election.  The World Zionist Congress (WZC) is the governing body of the World Zionist Organization (WZO), Jewish National Fund (JNF), and the Jewish Agency for Israel.  The First Zionist Congress, convened by Theodor Herzl in 1897, began Continue Reading »

50 years – a half a century – a Jubilee

Posted on November 1, 2019

Is it odd that I am excited to be turning 50?  It’s not that I’m unaware that I’m aging.  I color my hair monthly.  I have some pains in my knees and ankles.  My kids have been bigger than me for some years.  One of the preschoolers pointed to the myriad of dark spots on Continue Reading »