Rabbi’s blog
Sermon – Quarantine and the Limits of Empathy – April 24, 2020
April 25, 2020 by Temple Sinai • 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 David Edleson • 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 Temple Sinai • 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.”
Rabbi’s Weekly Email – April 15, 2020
April 15, 2020 by David Edleson • Rabbi's Blog •
Shalom Temple Sinai!
I have had a surprisingly great Passover despite Covid and isolation. I ended up having more Seders, more Passover Zoom-time with friends, more reflecting on the themes of freedom and plague than during most “normal” years.
I’ve been reflecting also on this “Great Pause” as some are naming this time of social distancing when many of us are home, not working, and what we might learn from it. I will be speaking about this in upcoming sermons (and likely at the High Holy Days also), but I think this time offers an unwelcome but fecund opportunity for reflection on these lives we live…
Also in this email:
– Online class: Parenting through a Jewish Lens II – Need 7 people to hold the class!
– Upcoming Services and Events
– Chaverim: Need some help?
– Mi Shebeirach List: email Chaverim Committee
– PDF of Friday night service (same as we have been using)
SERMON – Pesach Shabbat 2020 – Longing to be with You
April 10, 2020 by Temple Sinai • Rabbi's Blog, Sermons •
On Sinai, Moses and God are having another serious meeting; let’s think of it as a Zoom meeting on Sinai between two beings who can’t really be in the same space safely. They are discussing important business matters, like who is going to lead us out of the wilderness. Moses says, ‘you have to do it,’ but God is hedging, so Moses convinces God to say, “OK, enough with this, I’ll go in front.”
Rabbi’s Weekly Email – April 9, 2020
April 9, 2020 by David Edleson • Rabbi's Blog, Temple News •
Happy Passover, Temple Sinai!
I hope you enjoyed your seder last night in whatever way you celebrated it! We had a big crowd on Zoom, but I’ve seen lots of pictures of people at a seder table with computers to connect to friends and family, so I am impressed that as Jews always have, we find a way to continue. You can’t quarantine Judaism!
Tonight we have a Community Seder with Ohavi Zedek, and that will include the part after the meal as well. There will be singing, stories, puppets, and discussion, so please do your best to join us!
Also in this email:
– A note about ZOOM events – Check the Temple website
– Upcoming events
– Mi Shebeirach list and Chaverim Committee
– Downloadable Friday night Service (the same one we’ve been using)
Passover 2020 Resources & Events
April 3, 2020 by Temple Sinai • Passover, Rabbi's Blog •
It is strange to be celebrating Passover and liberation from bondage when so many of us are stuck in our homes due to a plague. As I saw on Facebook recently: Jewish Irony: Passover Cancelled Due to PLAGUE But let’s also remember that on the night of the first Passover, all the Israelites were stuck […]
Rabbi’s weekly email – April 2, 2020
April 2, 2020 by David Edleson • Rabbi's Blog, Temple News •
Hello Temple Sinai!
As this epidemic wears on, I find the newness of staying home being replaced by a growing crankiness. The reality that this is going to take a while is sinking in, and I fear the word ZOOM will soon turn from a blessing to a curse.
I plan on doing fewer ZOOM classes this week so I can spend more time connecting to people one on one by phone. We will still have our Shabbat services, Torah Study, our twice-weekly healing circles, and havdalah, and (I’ll be sending out a list of daily virtual minyans across the state), and of course we will be having Passover by ZOOM (see below).
Also in this email:
– Passover – How is tonight different?
– Online Seders
– Healing Circles
– Mi Shebeirach list
– Online class: Parenting through a Jewish Lens II
– Shabbat weekend events
– Service for printing (same as last week, also on website)
Hashkiveinu – Let It Be
April 25, 2020 by Temple Sinai • 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