This week we celebrate the holiday of Shavuot. Shavuot, meaning “weeks” in Hebrew, marks the culmination of a seven-week journey that begins with our liberation on Passover and commemorates the gift of the Torah at Mount Sinai. The meaning of Shavuot as “weeks” reminds us that meaningful experiences often require...
I wanted to share with you the remarks I was honored to deliver as the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism launched its nonpartisan Every Voice, Every Vote campaign this week. The campaign is committed to getting minority voices to the ballot box to ensure that all peoples are represented...
We are in the midst of the Counting of the Omer, the forty-nine days that take us from the second day of Passover to Shavuot. We refer to this period as ‘the counting of the Omer.’ It is a literal counting during which, each day, we ourselves grow one day...
Recently the Archives has received an increased number of requests for family history information. In most cases we can find the relevant material to respond. In other cases, we utilize Ancestry.com databases to focus or confirm that we are indeed looking at the records of the right person. Generally, a...
In the fall of 1955, Rabbi Bertram Korn stood up at Rosh HaShanah services to deliver an extensive sermon on the state of KI. He spoke of the synagogue expanding its space, a full and active membership, the great impact KI was having on its surrounding community. The congregation was...
Public Reading of Megilat Haatzmaut-Israel’s Declaration of Independence This Shabbat, we read the Torah Portion of EMOR, the eighth portion in the book of Vayikra/Leviticus, 21:1–24:23. The Israelites are in the middle of their wandering in the Sinai Desert on their 40-year journey to the Promised Land. The second section...
Last Shabbat, I taught a version of the song: “Am Yisrael Chai” (The Nation of Israel Lives) by Eyal Golan. The song was released on October 19, 2023 in the midst of Operation Swords of Iron, and remained the #1 song in Israel for several weeks. In addition, I compiled...
The word “Yisrael” means to “struggle with God.” These days we’re struggling with much more than God. We’re struggling with protestors, with media, with a relentless war, with antisemitism and misinformation. If you’re like me, your head is hurting. Your heart is pained. On college campuses (too many to count)...
What are we to make of Passover this year? How can we celebrate our freedom when our brothers and sisters remain as hostages half a world away? How do we focus our attention on ancient hardship when our current hardship is so poignant and so real? How do we raise...
This coming Shabbat, the Shabbat immediately preceding Passover is called SHABBAT HAGADOL, the Great Sabbath. Rabbis traditionally deliver long sermons about the laws of Passover, what is kosher and what is not, how our behaviors change during the Passover festival, how we should conduct our Sedarim (plural of Seder), and...
