Relationship

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Friendship and Holiness

By Rabbi Bonnie Koppell | 03/13/2018 | Comments Off on Friendship and Holiness

Welcome back and I trust that you are enjoying a wonderful day of friendship and community. It’s great to see friends on Facebook, and even better to see our friends’ faces in person!  The Rabbis acknowledged our deep human need for companionship long ago when they taught, “O chevruta, o…

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Love Means Having to Say You’re Sorry

By Rabbi Bonnie Koppell | 09/01/2013 | Comments Off on Love Means Having to Say You’re Sorry

One of the more memorably ridiculous lines in literature comes from a work that was popular in my childhood- Love Story– in which the author famously wrote, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”  Raise your hand if you agree that you can successfully sustain long-term, loving relationships without…

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Listen Up!

By Rabbi Bonnie Koppell | 09/22/2011 | Comments Off on Listen Up!

“Would you like to learn some magic?” Of course, the participants are on the edge of their seats!  So, what are the magic words?“ “I hear you, and I understand.” The desire to be heard and understood is so powerful.  When we achieve that goal, when we have someone’s full attention and…

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The Jewish Lifecycle

By Rabbi Bonnie Koppell | 05/21/2011 | Comments Off on The Jewish Lifecycle

Birth The birth of a child is a time for joyous celebration for the family and community.  “A baby,” wrote Carl Sandburg, “is God’s opinion that the world should go on.”  In contemporary American practice, children are often given a secular, English name, and, additionally, a Hebrew name.   In Jewish families of European…