Over the pandemic, one of my sins has been personifying COVID. I have found myself saying COVID has taken away opportunities to be together, to mourn together, to gather in large groups safely. I have found myself saying COVID brings out our selfish natures and COVID is divisive. COVID has...

By the time you receive this message, the weekend of Labor Day 2021 will have already begun. Rosh Hashanah, 5782, will commence on the evening of Monday, September 6. We will gather in person and online to usher in the New Year with solemnity, seriousness and high purpose. A difficult...

Shanah Tovah! Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel is preparing for a High Holy Day season unlike any other. We look forward to welcoming you back to our building, while also providing remote options for those who wish to stream. Below, we’ve tried to anticipate your questions, as we plan for a...

Last Sunday the Social Justice Committee distributed $10,000 collected through a Facebook fundraiser to residents of the Regina Rose Apartments, who have been displaced from their homes for two months due to unsafe conditions. Residents were forced into motels or makeshift accommodations with friends and family, incurring unexpected expenses while...

We all saw it. Again. Nearly 700 Afghanistanis packed into a C-17 on August 15, 2021, sitting on the aircraft’s floor and hoping the giant plane could get on the only working runway in Kabul even as the tarmac was swelling with thousands of their fellow citizens fleeing from the...

This Shabbat, we read Parashat Ki Tetzei, the sixth portion in the book of Deuteronomy. This section is packed full of important laws delivered by Moses to the Israelites in his final discourse and review of the Torah before they cross over the Jordan River on their way into Eretz...

This week we began the Jewish month of Elul, which is the month when we start the preparation for the High Holy Days. The Hebrew Month of Elul is comprised of these Hebrew letters– aleph, lamed, vav, lamed – which is known in the Talmud, as the acronym for “Ani...

Part of this week’s Torah portion, Re’eh, from Deuteronomy 13 contains an extensive discussion of false prophets. Determining true and false prophecy is just as much modern as it was an ancient problem. Prophecy, is not just a matter of predicting the future, indeed even from a Biblical perspective, clairvoyance...

Jewish Relief Agency (JRA) is seeking volunteers to assist with packing and delivering boxes of food and critical household goods to families in need in our community ahead of the upcoming Rosh Hashanah holiday. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, JRA re-engineered our program model to allow individuals and families to volunteer...

Dear members of Keneseth Israel, My name is Viveka Hall-Holt, and I currently serve as a summer intern for Interfaith Philadelphia and am a rising senior at St. Olaf College. I am reaching out to you about a research study that I am doing which includes a short, 20 minute anonymous...