Holidays
Erev Rosh HaShanah 2021, Temple Chai, Phoenix, AZ A Fiddler on the Roof? Sounds crazy, no? In 1905, Shalom Aleichem published his stories about Tevye the Dairyman, who, along with his wife Goldie, was raising 5 daughters in Imperial Russia. Jerry Stein, Sheldon Bock and Jerry Bock fell in…
A year ago when we celebrated Pesach, I don’t think we realized that we were actually ENTERING Egypt, Mitzrayim, the narrow place, the place of confinement. A year later, we read the Haggadah through an entirely new lens. The brilliance of our tradition and rituals is that the depth of…
We can still talk about Purim, right? Purim may have officially ended when we lit candles and entered into Shabbat. However, in some parts of the world, ancient walled cities- like Jerusalem- it’s STILL Purim. It’s actually called “Shushan Purim” and it commemorates the tragic loss of life that the…
It’s still Purim! Shushan Purim is a thing every year. Even in the time of Mordecai and Esther, Purim was celebrated on a different day in Shushan than in other cities, per chapter 9 of the Megillah. It took a little longer in Shushan for the violence to dissipate and…
Updated: Dec 8 It’s impossible to ignore today’s date. December 25th. As a Jewish minority living among a Christian majority, we can’t help but be aware of the significance of this date to our friends and neighbors, who celebrate today the birth of a first century rabbi and teacher, Jesus…
Did you know that today is a holiday? And I don’t mean “Black Friday?” I only recently learned that StoryCorps has informally designated today, the day after Thanksgiving, as the “National Day of Listening.” One might hope that we actually listen to each other EVERY day. But, then again, we…
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…
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…