The Talmud teaches that we should place our Hanukkah menorah ‘at the entrance to one’s house on the outside’ so that passersby can see it. If one lives upstairs, they place it ‘in the window adjacent to the public domain.’ The idea is that we should publicize the miracle. This...
Lately a lot of people have said to me that my kids are so grown up. They’ve made a transformation. I love these comments, because I usually feel it’s commentary on the transformation my daughters, Aria and Kira, are going through and I appreciate that someone took the time to...
November 29 is one of the more iconic dates in Israeli history, though rarely mentioned outside of the land of Israel. It was on this date in 1947 that the United Nations voted to adopt a formal partition plan for what would become the modern state of Israel. What had...
With the conclusion of Rabbi David’s joyful installation this past Shabbat, it gives us an opportunity to look back on the initial four months of his KI rabbinate, and the opportunities that were offered to our members during this important transition. Many members met Rabbi David in both small and...
This week’s Torah portion Chayei Sarah, means “Life of Sarah,” but it actually speaks of how Abraham deals with the loss of his beloved wife, Sarah. In verse 23:2, there are two different verbs for mourning. One is “to wail” and one is “to cry.” This story reminds us that...
Phase Two of our Storm Water Retention Project started today. Several years ago the Greenfaith Task Force of KI and the Tookany/Tacony-Frankford (TTF) Watershed Partnership educated us about the negative environmental impact of water runoff from parking lots taking oil, rock salt and other pollutants into the local creeks. The underground stormwater...
I spent this past weekend learning about the Civil Rights movement with an incredible group of KI members, most of them teens. We visited places that were – and still are – at the heart of the battle for equality in our country: Montgomery, Birmingham, Selma, and Atlanta. We stood...
In the coming days, millions of Americans will enter the voting booth. Contests of great consequence will finally come to a head, including those that matter significantly to Pennsylvania residents. Following untold dollars in campaign ads, social media drives, printed signs and slogans, new leaders will be named to local,...
Noah and The Flood Home Run Shabbat The weekly Torah portion NOACH, the second portion in the Book of Bereshit/Genesis, is well known to all. Young children in our religious school have learned at a very young age about Noah, his unnamed wife, and his three sons, Shem, Ham, and...
