Parashat VaYera

By Rabbi Enid Lader

“Adonai appeared to him in the terebinths of Mamre, while he was sitting in the entrance of the tent in the heat of the day” (Gen. 18:1). Through Rashi’s commentary on this verse, we learn that God’s appearance before Abraham was an act ofÂ bikkur holim – visiting the sick, and that Rabbi. Hama ben Hanina said, “It was the third day after his circumcision, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, came to inquire after him.” This is indeed the proof text for the mitzvah of visiting the sick, and there is much to learn from God’s example.

There is a time for sending a get well card… and there is a time for a personal visit. And this verse teaches us the importance of a personal visit. But not right away. The patient needs time to heal on his (or her) own. Moses Maimonides (Rambam) spells this Read More >

By Rabbi Enid C. Lader|2011-11-08T11:25:57-05:00November 8, 2011|

Parashat Vayeira

By Rabbi Enid Lader

“Adonai appeared to him in the terebinths of Mamre, while he was sitting in the entrance of the tent in the heat of the day” (Gen. 18:1). Through Rashi’s commentary on this verse, we learn that God’s appearance before Abraham was an act ofÂ bikkur holim – visiting the sick, and that Rabbi. Hama ben Hanina said, “It was the third day after his circumcision, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, came to inquire after him.” This is indeed the proof text for the mitzvah of visiting the sick, and there is much to learn from God’s example.

There is a time for sending a get well card… and there is a time for a personal visit. And this verse teaches us the importance of a personal visit. But not right away. The patient needs time to heal on his (or her) own. Moses Maimonides (Rambam) spells this Read More >

By Rabbi Enid C. Lader|2011-11-08T11:25:57-05:00November 8, 2011|

Parashat Lekh Lekha

By Simcha Raphael

I imagine it was a crystal clear desert night in Haran. Standing under a glittering band of stars adorning ancient Mesopotamian skies, Abram son of Terah suddenly heard a beckoning voice:

Abram! Go forth from your native land, from your birthplace, from your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you… and in you shall all families of the earth be blessed. (Gen. 12:1-3)

In Parashat Lekh Lekha, Abraham is called by G!d to sojourn to Canaan and in so doing, becomes the progenitor of the Jewish people and ultimately, the Abrahamic religions. Here we encounter the classical calling of the hero (see Joseph Campbell, Hero with A Thousand Faces). Responding to a divine calling, an individual embarks upon a journey into the unknown, following their destiny and becoming an agent for world transformation.

Lekh Read More >

By ahsilver|2011-11-03T12:05:19-04:00November 3, 2011|

Parashat Noach

By Rabbi Alan Abraham Kay

As I write this D’var Torah, “The falling leaves drift by my window, the autumn leaves of red and gold” and I hum the Frank Sinatra song and thank God for giving us daylight and nightlight and four seasons. I re-read the verse from Parashat Noah, “So long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease” (Gen. 8:22) and I smile in gratitude. God turned away from further destruction after The Flood and, in choosing life, gave Noah and his family and generations to follow the turning of day into night and into day and night again and the autumn leaves of red and gold. No more precious gift has been given to humankind than sunrise and sunset and the turning of one season into another.

I am living the second cycle of seasons since my metastatic lung Read More >

By ahsilver|2011-10-25T10:35:42-04:00October 25, 2011|

Parashat Noah

By Rabbi Alan Abraham Kay

As I write this D’var Torah, “The falling leaves drift by my window, the autumn leaves of red and gold” and I hum the Frank Sinatra song and thank God for giving us daylight and nightlight and four seasons. I re-read the verse from Parashat Noah, “So long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease” (Gen. 8:22) and I smile in gratitude. God turned away from further destruction after The Flood and, in choosing life, gave Noah and his family and generations to follow the turning of day into night and into day and night again and the autumn leaves of red and gold. No more precious gift has been given to humankind than sunrise and sunset and the turning of one season into another.

I am living the second cycle of seasons since my metastatic lung Read More >

By ahsilver|2011-10-25T10:35:42-04:00October 25, 2011|

Sukkot

By Rabbi Margaret Frisch-Klein

Sitting in a private bathroom stall on Rosh Hashanah at the synagogue, I notice a sign for a hotline for domestic abuse. At first I am saddened that we need such signs. Then I am relieved that we are beginning to acknowledge that domestic abuse happens even in the Jewish community. Then I am hopeful that another woman sitting there will know she is not alone.

Now it is Sukkot, zeman simhatenu, the time of our joy. The harvest is in. It is time to celebrate. On Sukkot the commandment is to sit in our sukkah, a fragile temporary booth open to the elements. Even though it is fragile, I love to sit in my sukkah, watching the evening sky, the moon rise, and the geese fly overhead. It reclaims a sense of peace, wholeness. It wasn’t always so.

Not everyone feels joy at Sukkot. If you are sitting in that Read More >

By ahsilver|2011-10-12T12:57:32-04:00October 12, 2011|

Yom Kippur

By Rabbi Enid Lader “As you are able, please stand for the Kol Nidre Service…” Kol Nidre…Such powerful words. Words many of us might not understand, but powerful nonetheless. Powerful through the connections… and the feelings… and the memories they invoke. As we enter through the gates of Yom Kippur, Kol Nidre is there almost like an usher, welcoming and reminding us that this is it – the serious thinking and the self-reflection are about to begin. Kol Nidre has played many roles in my experiences of entering into Yom Kippur. At each stage of my life it has had a new and special meaning. Read More >

By Rabbi Enid C. Lader|2011-10-05T08:09:57-04:00October 5, 2011|

Rosh HaShanah

Connecting with God

By Marian Kleinman

In the story of the sacrifice of Isaac we read on Rosh HaShanah, the sacrifice asked of Abraham can be explored as symbolic of relationships such as the relationship between ourselves and God.

In today’s society, individuals are frowned upon or shunned if they tell others they are “hearing God” or hearing voices. In some of our most popular literature, this attitude is prevalent. For example, in Rowley’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Hermione, one of Harry’s sidekicks, warns Harry, “Even in the wizarding world, hearing voices isn’t a good sign.”

For at least one week this past May, there was much conversation and discussion. Many people wondered and worried that the world was going to end on May 21 at 6:30 am. This was all because an evangelical broadcaster spoke and the media spread his words! If people weren’t worried, they were laughing and when Read More >

By ahsilver|2011-09-26T08:15:45-04:00September 26, 2011|

Parashat Nitzavim-VaYelekh

By Rabbi Robert Freedman

Two phrases vie for the honor of being the most important in the Torah, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and “Humanity was made in the divine image.” Humbly I’d like to nominate another for one of the top ten. The verse is, “For the thing is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart to do it” (Deuteronomy 30:14). No other verse in Torah offers as strong reassuring certainty that we need not be confused or despairing about where to find life’s instruction manual.

At one time Moses protested that he was not a man of words, that for him speech was difficult and his lips were not fluent. But forty years later he preached the words of Deuteronomy. Throughout a full day he held forth, concluding by saying that the thing, the commandment, was not too far away or too difficult, “rather it is in your Read More >

By ahsilver|2011-09-22T10:23:07-04:00September 22, 2011|

Parashat Ki Tavo

By Rabbi Jaron Matlow

Lately I have been focusing on Theodicy, the problem of evil in the world. Over the last several years, I have experienced a number of health issues that left me on total disability. In Parashat Ekev, we are told that if we follow God s Torah, God œwill remove all sickness from you (Deut. 7:15). God states further œI am your Healer (Exodus 15:26). So naturally I ask myself the question, œIf I m suffering all these things, am I being punished, and given the suffering of others, are they being punished? Have we not followed Torah and Halakha sufficiently?

Our Parashah, Ki Tavo, is noted for the Tokhehot, the warnings and curses, if we don t follow Torah. In it we find Yak kha YHVH bishhin Mitzrayim uvat horim uvagarav uvehares asher lo tukhal l heirafei. Yak kha YHVH b shiga on u v ivaron u v timhon leivav, œGod will strike you with Read More >

By ahsilver|2011-09-14T12:39:38-04:00September 14, 2011|

All shall unite to do God's will with an open heart.

All shall unite to do God's will with an open heart.

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