Looking around our congregational sanctuary and you will see much in the way of old technology: Torah scrolls, candle sticks, Yahrzeit lights, and, for that matter, prayer books. We are preservers of tradition, diligently passing down hard earned knowledge from generations…
Torah Thoughts Vayerah (Genesis 18:1-22:24) “Welcome to the Neighborhood”
In honor of the 65th World Kindness Day on November 13, I would like to offer my Torah Thought’s Mr. Roger’s style. For those of you not familiar him, let me introduce you to Mr. Fred Rogers, the cardigan wearing…
Torah Thoughts Lech Lecha 5780 (Genesis 12:1 -17:27) “Hey! Look there’s a Mensch”
Phillip Burdman taught me a new Yiddish expression this week: “Haylacha Mensch.” It’s something that out of his grandfather’s mouth over a quarter century ago, usually about a death, meant that the person was so good they should go right to…
Torah Thoughts Bereishit 5780 (Genesis 1:1 – 6:8) “A New Torah Cycle Begins”
We think of the Torah as a closed scroll that sits waiting and ready in the synagogue ark. When opened, this version of Torah, displays only a few columns from the portion we are reading that particular week of the year. And,…
Torah Thoughts Sukkot 5780 “The Sukkah and the Chuppah”
There are two Jewish structures that are deliberately designed to be temporary – the Sukkah and the Chuppah. The former is up right now in front of Shir Shalom in celebration of our most joyous holiday, Sukkot, and the latter for…
“Hate Has No Home Here”
There are so many ways to hate one another these days: If I hold my hand up like this most of you will understand the message. (holding right hand raised above my head) But, how about this? (crossing hands, the…
“The Young and the Old Shall Lead Our Way”
When then, 15- year-old Greta Thunberg started protesting in August of 2018 in front of the Swedish parliament building every single Friday in the name of climate justice, it was clear that something in the world had changed. When she…
“Restoring Shalom to Shir Shalom”
Eleven months ago this week, the worst single attack on a Jewish institution in America occurred less than four hours down the road in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In the space a few minutes time, eleven good people were killed, six injured,…
“Isaac’s Scream of Silence: Creating a Trauma Aware Society”
On High Holy Days, we search for God’s “kol demama vdaka, still small voice.” This phrase is taken from the First Book of Kings, when Elijah finds God not in the howling winds, nor in the harrowing earthquakes, nor in…
Torah Thoughts Ki Tavo (Deuteronomy 26:1 – 29:8) – “Finding Blessings Among the Forest of Curses”
Curses are easy. It’s blessings that are hard to come by. This is a point this week’s Torah portion, Ki Tavo, makes abundantly clear, with over fifty verses of curses and just a scant sixteen of blessings. We are meant to be overwhelmed by…