How many times have I heard this from my now teenage daughters, “keep up with the times” and even from my husband! Is this a phrase you have heard as well? Usually I hear it in reference to using technology or the words I am using…I am trying to keep...
Gun violence is the plague of our time. It is heart wrenching. Our children are dying. Our elected officials are standing idly by. This Friday night we will take part in Ceasefire Shabbat, joining with congregations across the country as we bring attention to the horrific realities around guns. We...
Welcome, Confirmands and families. Chag Sameach. It’s great to see you here tonight. So you are Confirmands at your Confirmation. What exactly are you confirming? You’ve probably discussed this already with the Rabbi. The obvious answer is that you’re confirming your choice to live a Jewish life. Maybe to you...
I am going to share these words at our Shavuot service tonight (May 25), where we honor an extraordinary group of teenagers. Please join us at 7:00 p.m. for Confirmation and Shavuot services. If you are unable to join us, I thought I would share my message with you: The...
Dear KI Families, In the Book of Ecclesiastes there is a well-known teaching which states “to everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven.” In my life, I have been blessed with a two decade long “season” working as a Preschool Director. The last eight years have...
This Shabbat, we begin the reading of the fourth book of the Torah, the Book of Numbers. In Hebrew, the book is called B’Midbar/In The Wilderness. Both the English and Hebrew names of the fourth Torah book teach us about the character and contents of this volume. The English name,...
This week, our youngest daughter, Kira, becomes Bat Mitzvah. Her Torah portion happens to be B’har which means “on the mountain.” This is a portion of perspective, a chance to gain some “height,” and to evaluate what is meaningful to us. To our tradition, this portion teaches us that rest...
In last week’s Torah portion of Kedoshim we read the important commandment: ‘You shall not curse the deaf nor place a stumbling block before the blind.’ It is a teaching that we take to heart all these years later as we try to make life easier – not harder –...
This week we mark the 75th anniversary of Israel’s founding. It is in every respect a remarkable milestone. Who would have thought, a century ago, that the Jewish people would have a place to call home? Who would have thought, as Hitler’s hate machine sought to eradicate an entire population,...
This Shabbat, we again read a double portion, Tazria/M’tzora. We are introduced to the very complex and difficult concept in the religious life of Bnai Yisrael/Children of Israel: ritual purity and impurity. These categories are strange for us as 21st century Jews. There are very traditional members of the Jewish...
