Consider helping a Yazidi Refugee Family

Posted by Guest Author
On February 27, 2018
0 Comments

Please consider helping a Yazidi refugee family who has lived through an unspeakable nightmare. We’ve all seen the photographs of refugees being attacked in their villages by ISIS, living in unsanitary conditions in crowded camps, or huddled in small and shaky boats as they attempt to cross rivers or oceans. We mostly stand idly by […]

Posted by Suzie Jacobson
On February 25, 2018
0 Comments
Clergy, gun violence, purim, Rabbi Jacobson

Nathan Yitzhak — It is with such incredible joy that we officially bring you into our awesome community — Over the past 12 weeks, we have called you many names – Nathan, Yitz, Yitzy, Boo Boo Bear — but there is something about having Rabbi Zecher holding you while saying, “May you live to see […]

Posted by Elaine Zecher
On February 23, 2018
0 Comments

Welcome to Shabbat Awakenings as we make our way toward Shabbat, and then Purim on Wednesday night. Purim: Is its origin story true? Does it matter? How did it make it into the Biblical canon anyway? It may be a silly story, but doesn’t every governmental household have: An egocentric, maniacal, heinous person? A […]

Posted by Suzie Jacobson
On February 17, 2018
0 Comments
Clergy, gun violence, politics, Rabbi Jacobson, Shabbat, Torah

(Sermon delivered on February 16, 2018, Temple Israel, Boston) (Image: Naples Daily News) Take a moment of silence. Just one minute. Silence is a common human reaction to tragedy. A shocked silence. A silent grief. A desire to sit in silence to process a reality that has been shifted beyond recognition The silenced […]

Posted by Elaine Zecher
On February 16, 2018
0 Comments

Welcome to Shabbat Awakenings, a weekly reflection as we move toward Shabbat. Shabbat and refreshing our soul, vayenafash, go together. One important action is to breathe. Deeply. Slowly. Thoroughly. It is to rediscover that ability. It is part of what nourishes our inner lives, our souls. To breathe is to recognize the magnificence of […]

Posted by Elaine Zecher
On February 9, 2018
0 Comments

Welcome to Shabbat Awakenings, a weekly reflection as we make our way to Shabbat. A Chasidic story with useful imagery: A man died and was brought before the Heavenly Court. When his wrongdoings and good deeds were placed on the scales, his transgressions far outweighed the good deeds he had done. Suddenly a fur […]

Posted by Elaine Zecher
On February 2, 2018
0 Comments

Welcome to Shabbat Awakenings, a weekly reflections as we move toward Shabbat. This is a week of the potential for magnificence. When history is written, rewritten, examined and re-examined, play by play, minute by minute, a narrative will emerge with new meaning. I’m not speaking of football, though I certainly could! How could anything […]

Adult

Youth

Consider helping a Yazidi Refugee Family

Purim Wisdom from a Brand New Baby

Why Purim?

Breaking the Moral Silence

Extreme

Weigh In

Ready Torah Portion: Yitro