Rabbi Bonnie Koppell
This is my first yizkor. I graduated from rabbinical school 34 years ago, and have led yizkor services multiple times every year since then. Yet, and, this is my first yizkor. It has always been a point of personal pride to smugly excuse myself, at least symbolically, from the yizkor…
Yes, Erev Rosh HaShanah begins on Sunday, yet, as we turn to the Hashkivenu, I’m thinking about Sukkot. “Ufros alenu sukkat shlomecha- spread over us a sukkah of peace.” When we sit in our Sukkot in a few short weeks, we are reminded of the fragility of our homes and…
HOW TO BE GOOD As we come together this evening to begin the High Holiday season in earnest, we all are, or should be, obsessed with one question- “How to Be Good”, which is coincidentally, the name of a novel by Nick Hornby which I read this past year. The…
The shofar has been described as “the alarm clock of the soul.” Each morning during the month of Elul we blow the shofar and take in its urgency- wake up! Wake up! The shofar reminds us that we need to be doing teshuvah NOW. That we need to be healing…
Only one thing do I ask of You, Holy God Just this alone do I seek: I want to be at home with You, Adonai All the days of my life. I want to delight in seeing You, When I come to visit You In Your Temple. What’s the…
I spent last weekend in Salt Lake City where my Army unit, the 807th Medical Command, has its headquarters. One of the things that I enjoy about the military is its respect for ritual, which parallels Jewish tradition. Last weekend was filled with festivities in honor of the change of…
Psalm 29, verse 11, has always been special to me. “Adonai oz l’amo yiten, Adonai yivarech et amo b’shalom- Adonai will give strength to the people, Adonai will bless the people with peace.” As a Soldier, this verse appealed to me in terms of national security strategy. I understood that…
I wanted to share with you a few lines from an article in the Arizona Republic Jobs section on May 10th[1] entitled, “Without Meaning, Work is a Chore.” Angelo Kinicki writes that, “People are happier, healthier and more productive when they are doing “meaningful” work. . . We believe that…
When David was so sick, this was the prayer that made me leave the sanctuary in tears. Hashkivenu l’shalom- Holy God-lay us down in peace; v’Ha-a-mee-denu l’chayim- stand us up in the morning, alive. The simplest blessing that we simply take for granted. The most profound blessing. The only prayer…