Synagogues of the past had clear hierarchies.  The wealthy and the powerful had assigned seats up front, everyone else were relegated to the back.  I felt this growing up, as our Jewish community in Philadelphia often made those who didn’t…

Holiness in Judaism is ephemeral – a wisp of a moment, fleeting, but full of love and life.  We find it around our Shabbat tables, glowing with the candles, singing with our High Holy Day choir.  No one can have…

I learned a new Yiddish expression this week – Guzente Tzurus or good or healthy troubles.  Not all troubles are equal, some, like the ones that arise from getting ready for happy occasions or in preparation to overcome adversity, are…

One of my favorite memories of our CSS Passover Second Night Seders, was when our youngest child, Noam, recited the “Mah Nishtanah” in front of the whole community.  He was three-years-old and we had been prepping him for weeks, but…

The brother of a friend from high school wanted to go into the film business.  He was especially fond of horror movies, showing off simple tricks to make special effects like they did in Hollywood.  Spaghetti, for example, when broken,…

My sister-in-law spent the holiday of Purim in a bomb shelter.  Her children, my niece and nephew, had been called up for reserve duty and were heading off to the Northern Front.  But despite the dire mood across Israel, she,…

In the Torah, shemen katith, beaten olive oil, was considered the best.  Made by pounding or crushing the olives with a mortar rather than using machinery, the process produces clear, pure oil, the only oil allowed to be used in…

Check this out, just since October our Tikkun Olam committee has conducted a High Holy Day food drive, hiked at Reinstein Woods, donated warm socks to the Friends of Night People, walked with Run for Their Lives Buffalo, collected dog…