We are all a little broken. Going through health challenges can remind us just how fragile we all are. Recently I had a health challenge of my own, and while I am coming out the other side of it, I am greatly aware of the amount of support it takes...
The hidden battle for the soul of Reform Judaism During the last month or so while our eyes and thoughts have been trained on the war in Ukraine, another battle, a hidden battle, has also been waging over the future of American Reform Judaism. This is not a battle over...
Parashat Sh’mini is the third Torah portion in the book of Vayikra/Leviticus. We learn ideas, concepts, and practices that remain meaningful and relevant to Jews today throughout the world. The portion opens with the completion of the eight-day ceremony for the consecration of the Priests/Kohanim charged with conducting the sacrificial...
Thank you for inviting me to pray with you this evening. I have been asked, as a Ukrainian-American and a child of immigrants, to talk a little about the situation that is taking place in my father’s homeland. Ukraine is a country in Europe that before this year many people...
God of Peace, Eternal Source of Love: Be with the people of Ukraine In this, their hour of need. Strengthen their resolve to fight For their freedom and independence. Be with their friends of every faith and nation in their support of the Ukrainian people. Bless the citizen soldiers, mothers,...
The need for humanitarian support for displaced people is increasing, and our moral obligation is to care for them. Lev. 19:33-34 states: When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not wrong him. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your...
Dear KI Congregants, In keeping up with the recent recommendations from the CDC, as well as the Montgomery County Office of Public Health, and in the spirit of Pikuach Nefesh, the Jewish value of safeguarding life, we are updating our Covid safety protocols. These changes do not apply to our...
This coming Shabbat, we begin reading the third book of the Torah, VAYIKRA: “The Eternal One called to Moses…” VAYIKRA is the name of both the complete third book, and its first portion we read on this Shabbat. The third book of the Torah is also known by its Greek...
On March 1, 2022, artillery shells fired by the Russian Army in Ukraine fell in and near Babi Yar, the Holocaust’s largest mass grave. On September 29-30, 1941, led by the SS commanders, a large number of Einsatzgruppen, Wehrmacht and German police units as well as Ukrainian collaborators combined to...
In this week’s Torah portion Vayekhel, Moses invites all whose heart moves them to help with the building of the sanctuary. “and everyone who was willing and whose heart moved them, came and brought an offering to the Eternal for the work on the Tent of Meeting, for all its...
