Rabbi Koppell’s Writings
A member of our community recently shared with me his frustration that he had apologized to someone, “I’m sorry, please forgive me,” and he sensed that the person was still withholding forgiveness and reconciliation. In that moment, I reflected on The Five Languages of Apology as defined by Gary Chapman…
A few lyrics- “I believe the children are our future.” So sings Whitney Houston, and I am inclined to agree. “Do you believe in life after love?” Cher posed that question and I believe that I do. The Lovin’ Spoonful want to know, “Do you believe in magic?” I guess…
September 11, 2020 It’s Sept. 11th. You just can’t ignore that date. Or maybe you can? It’s hard to believe it was 19 years ago, so there is a whole generation for whom Sept. 11th is the day after Sept. 10th and the day before Sept. 12th. But not for…
I want to invite you to take a breath. A deep breath. Let it out slowly and luxuriously. Pause now, and, at your leisure, inhale once again. The average person takes 23,000 breaths a day, virtually all of them completely unconscious. What is it like when we hold our breath?…
According to the Torah, we are just now, with this week’s parsha, entering Bamidbar/the wilderness. According to us, it feels like 40 years of wandering aimlessly, hoping to reach the promised land with no idea how to get there, when we will arrive, and how we will survive along the…
Tazria, Metzora, and Social Distancing- 2020 Rabbi Bonnie Koppell An unknown illness erupts. Waiting for a diagnosis, and then, quarantine. Have the symptoms dissipated? Keep checking and continue to stay isolated from the community. Examination by a healthcare professional to determine if it’s safe to be with people. If so,…
I trust everyone had a good Pesach and our Torah reading this week, Shemini, finds us exactly half-way through the Torah. It is AMAZING that the rabbis so loved the text that they counted every letter, determining that the letter vav in the word “gachon,” appearing this week, is the…
March 26th will be the first day of the month of Nisan, the month in which Passover occurs. That means that next Shabbat, March 21, is Shabbat Mevarchim, the Shabbat on which we will officially announce and pray for the new month. Reverse engineering, that makes this week Shabbat Parah-…
I remember a few years ago- I was standing in the lobby, having just returned from a period of military service. I think I might have even been in uniform. I was definitely still in Army/Colonel mode. I sort of barked at one of my colleagues in a way that…
Did you know that the word Elohim, God, and the word ha-tevah, nature, have the same numerical value in Hebrew? While Jews are not pantheistic, that is, we don’t believe that nature IS God, we certainly sense the deep and intimate connection between the Creator and the creation. Rabbi Joseph…