Rabbi’s blog
Rabbi’s Weekly Email – May 20, 2020
May 21, 2020 by templesinai • Rabbi's Blog, Temple News •
Shalom Temple Sinai!
Not only the bulbs are blooming! Shavu’ot is coming, and there is a LOT happening in Vermont to celebrate. At Sinai, I’ll be doing a special Torah (Haftarah, really) study of “Ezekiel’s Vision” and a tea-time reading of the Book of Ruth on Sunday. Then, starting on Thursday will be the Jewish Community of Vermont’s statewide virtual Summit and Concert. As part of that, Judy Alexander will be leading a class on how to make her amazing blintzes, and Temple Sinai and Ohavi Zedek will be leading our annual Tikkun Leil Shavuo’t, an evening of study with clergy and teachers from our two communities starting at 7 pm (schedule details coming soon!)
Also in this email:
– More on Shavu’ot events and celebrations, including virtual concert with Nefesh Mountain
– Blood drive thanks
– Upcoming life cycle and other events
– Special Chodesh Sivan event – Book of Ruth
– Anti-semitism class returns
Rabbi’s Weekly Email – May 14, 2020
May 13, 2020 by templesinai • Rabbi's Blog •
Shalom Temple Sinai!
I want to thank everyone who came to the Dan Nichols concert last Shabbat. I hope you can see why I am excited for him to spend a weekend with us. If you liked it, please consider making a donation to the South Burlington Food Shelf. I am also talking to some up and coming musicians about doing ZOOM concerts for us this summer. I’ll keep you posted.
On the same theme, I’m excited for Shavu’ot this year, (Thur-Sat, May 28-30) because Jewish Communities of Vermont is organizing a statewide Summit and Shavu’ot celebration with a combination of Zoom events, and ideas for home and outdoors away from the screen…
Also in this email:
– Upcoming events
– Shavu’ot events
– Anti-Semitism class
– Need help? Contact Chaverim or Social Action committees
– Mi Shebeirach list – Keep us informed!
Rabbi’s Weekly Email – May 6, 2020
May 7, 2020 by templesinai • Rabbi's Blog, Temple News •
Shalom Temple Sinai!
As many of you know, I am a big Dan Nichol’s fan so I’m excited about the concert he is doing for us this Friday night. He’ll be coming back when we can reschedule an in-person Shabbat of song and study, but this is lovely way for Temple Sinai to start getting to know Dan and his music. For a decade, Dan has been the most popular musician at Reform NFTY camps around North America, and some larger synagogues have endowed funds for him to come each year for a period to work with their congregations on prayer, music, and developing a genuine and real spiritual life in the face of doubt.
I wanted to share an epiphany I had in December at the Union of Reform Judaism Biennial in Chicago. Several thousand Reform Jews, including lots of teenage and young adult leaders from NFTY Camps, were packed in a big convention hall for Friday night services and song session… –more–
Also in this email:
– Upcoming events
– Anti-Semitism course reprise
– Mi Shebeirach list reminder
Rabbi’s Weekly Email – April 29, 2020
April 30, 2020 by templesinai • Rabbi's Blog, Temple News •
Shalom Temple Sinai!
It was so meaningful and moving to see so many of you at Marc Kamhi’s funeral service. It is so hard these days to mourn when we can’t be near one another or have the rituals that help us gain closure, (Please check out Seven Days’ article on grieving to read about Judy Alexander’s experiences with her mom’s death, and Marc Kamhi and his family’s experience as he approached death. Here is a link.) so seeing so many people coming to honor Marc and to be there for his family felt particularly important at this time. Our love goes out to Marc’s family, and especially Laura, Joanna and Reid.
I also know that while some people are getting too much together time right now, others of us are feeling quite lonely and separated from people. Loneliness is built-in to this period of distance, but over time it can start to eat away at our sense of self-esteem, especially when we see stories of people having fabulous cocktail parties and movie screenings with their fabulous fun friends via ZOOM.
Also in this email:
– Upcoming services and events
– Dan Nichols virtual visit
– Teacher Appreciation Shabbat
– Torah Study
– Online class: Parenting Through a Jewish Lens
– Mi Shebeirach List
– MORE!
Hashkiveinu – Let It Be
April 25, 2020 by templesinai • Video of the Week •
Adas Israel Congregation Hashkiveinu – A prayer of healing and hope in isolating times. Original songs composed by Craig Taubman & Paul McCartney Mashup conceived and arranged by Micah Hendler
Sermon – Quarantine and the Limits of Empathy – April 24, 2020
April 25, 2020 by templesinai • Rabbi's Blog, Sermons •
QUARANTINE, SOCIAL DISTANCING AND THE ETHICS OF CONTAGION IN THE TORAH
This week’s Torah portion, Tazria-Metzorah is all about contagion, epidemics, social distancing, and quarantine. It is focused on what to do about a mysterious outbreak of an illness called “Tzara’a’t.” It is often translated as “leprousy” but is not what we today call leprosy or Hansen’s Disease. It starts on the skin, but can also infect the walls of a house, and even old stones. The portion is focused on how to prevent the disease from spreading. It is eerily familiar to us now…
Rabbi’s weekly email – April 22, 2020
April 23, 2020 by templesinai • Rabbi's Blog, Temple News •
Shalom Temple Sinai!
I realized that last week, I wrote about the ‘Great Pause,’ and the mirror it offers on our lives. However, for me and many of you, this period has been anything but a pause. For those of use working from home, and especially those of you also taking care of school-aged children, this has been among the busiest and most stressful times in memory. I know that I, personally, have had trouble finding the time and the ‘head-space’ to really let what is happening sink in and have our feelings and reactions.
Also in this email:
– Upcoming services – Beatles Shabbat!
– Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’Atzmaut Service and opportunities
– Online Class: Parenting Through A Jewish Lens – Still a few slots left!
– Neeed some help?
– Mi Shebeirach List – Keep us in the loop
SERMON – The Great Pause, April 17, 2020
April 18, 2020 by templesinai • Rabbi's Blog, Sermons •
This time we are living in has come to be called “The Great Pause.” It reminds me of times I’ve been at yoga or meditation retreats and was asked to pay attention to the space between inhaling and exhaling, the rest, the time between what was and what will be.
It is not like America to pause, or the global economy to pause, and we’ve already noticed some interesting things.
First of all, we’ve found out that we can actually stop. That is profound in itself.
We’ve seen the canals in Venice turn clear, and the skies over China clear. The “Great Pause,” as writer Julio Vincent Gambuto calls it, is producing the following: “A carless Los Angeles has clear blue skies as pollution has simply stopped. In a quiet New York, you can hear the birds chirp in the middle of Madison Avenue. Coyotes have been spotted on the Golden Gate Bridge. These are the postcard images of what the world might be like if we could find a way to have a less deadly daily effect on the planet.”
You Must Not Distort Justice
June 1, 2020 by templesinai • Rabbi's Blog •
There is no speech, nor are there words;
their voice is not heard;
yet their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world. (Psalm 19)
“I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.” These were George Floyd’s last words. Breath is life. In Hebrew, almost all the words for spirit or soul are connected to breathing. Soul is neshama, which is from ‘breath.’ Spirit is nefesh, which means windpipe, the very thing the police officer choked off in his killing of George Floyd. I grew up in Georgia during desegregation; I wish I could say I was shocked by the death of George Floyd, but I’m not; we know it is just one incident in a much longer and bloodier story.