Blog

Do you want to live a “greener” life, but don’t know where to start? Check this spot every week for a new “green tip.”

TIP 1: Adjust your thermostat to fight climate change. Reducing your energy usage will help combat global...Read more...

This morning as I opened Instagram, I learned that Jodi, a woman I had once known, passed away at the age of 62. I was not even aware that she was sick. It had been 20 years since we had last spoken, and yet the news still stopped me in my tracks. In the flash of an instant, in the casual motion of scrolling up or down each morning, we can face such surprise and such sadness.  

As we walk through our days, we spend so much...Read more...

As the school year has wrapped up for most and the end-of-year and grad pics are popping up, I find myself reflecting on my teachers. When I think of my best teachers, they were the ones who made me fall in love with a subject and encouraged me to do deeper dives and sharpen or broaden my understanding. While my music teachers were certainly at the top of the list, I also recall with great fondness English and history teachers as well as...Read more...

Once again we find ourselves shocked and shattered by a tragic school shooting. The heartbreak, the tears, and the unimaginable violence scar us anew. In our anguish we all search for any words possible that might provide solace or shelter from this violent storm which seemingly has no end. Though no poet can erase the pain or despair so many are feeling, may words from this tender prayer offer a small measure of comfort:

“El Makor...Read more...

In our Shabbat to Shabbat clergy column two weeks ago, we expressed our profound concern about the potential overturning of Roe v. Wade and the elimination of a woman’s access to abortion that would likely follow, and we invited congregants to attend a rally in support of reproductive freedom.  In the days since that post, we have spoken with individuals in our congregation who, for varying reasons, were dissatisfied with the message...Read more...

At the urging of our beloved Preschool Director, Miss Jamah, I submitted our daughter Maayan to the Gerber Baby Competition. Yes, like many (most!) others out there, I think my kids are pretty cute.

I personally could not think of a more exciting role for my daughter: to work with Gerber to taste-test baby food products before they are released to the market.

While admittedly, a bit self-indulgent, I really thought Maayan had...Read more...

Oh what a night!

How wonderful it was to be able to celebrate the rabbinates of our friends, teachers, and Senior Rabbis Phil Kranz and Ron Segal. Throughout the evening of honor, time and again we heard the refrain relating how lucky we are as a community that we have been and continue to be shaped by their vision, dedication, and friendship. As was shared, Rabbi Segal strives to follow the model set by Rabbi Kranz as he continues to...Read more...

We spend time during our Seders reflecting upon the years the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt, attempting to empathize with the plight of our ancestors, after which we savor the taste of freedom on the other side of the sea. While surely appropriate to linger in these defining moments, for the crux of our historical narrative is one that moves from bondage to redemption, it seems we often disregard the actual moments of transition. What...Read more...

Without doubt, the number of movies and TV shows I have seen through the years has been limited by a personal aversion to heightened suspense (usually exacerbated by accompanying music), as well as a distaste for gore and gratuitous violence.  Thus, as the horrific images revealing the torture, mass killings, and criminal acts perpetrated against Ukrainian citizens in the Kiev suburb of Bucha were broadcast in this week’s news, I –...Read more...

Growing up, I never heard the phrase, “gender identity.” We were all assigned a physical sex at birth (and accompanying identity) based on our physiology and that was that. Those who somehow felt that their body did not reflect their understanding of themselves were left to be in a state of quiet conflict with no ways to express an alternate gender identity other than what was assigned at birth, without feeling “other”.

The...Read more...

Maybe it is burrowed deep within my Jewish DNA, the propensity to wander. As the Israelites made their way from Egypt to the Promised Land they spent two generations’ worth of time wandering the desert. Certainly, the physical journey would not really take forty years, but this was not a physical journey. The journey across the desert was a spiritual one-one of forging an identity as well as a relationship with God. It was also one which...Read more...

As the tenor of the reports from Ukraine grows in severity almost by the hour, so, too, grows the yearning and heartfelt desire of countless among us to want to do something, anything, to assist the people of Ukraine during this existential crisis. Putin’s aggression, the killing of Ukrainian civilians, the bombing of the Babi Yar Holocaust Memorial, the flight of over one million Ukrainian citizens… the number of tragic headlines and...Read more...

This week marks Shabbat Shekalim, the first of 4 Shabbatot leading up to Passover that has a special name and theme. It gets its name from this week’s Torah portion that is read in preparation for Purim, requesting each adult male Jew contribute half of a Biblical shekel for the upkeep of the Tent of Meeting. The half-shekel is an interesting and curious amount. Each half would require someone else’s half to make a whole. In addition to...Read more...

“You shall all be for Me a kingdom of priests (kohanim) and a treasured people” (Exodus 19:6).  In his excellent sermon this past Shabbat evening, Rabbi Levenberg concluded with the final words of this verse (watch the sermon here at 1:03:55 mark).  It is to the first part of the verse, “You shall be a kingdom of priests,” that I turn our attention in this message.

A question: Other than the fact they are...Read more...

As we endeavor to strengthen our community amidst the ever-changing pandemic landscape, we are pleased to share the latest update in our COVID safety protocols. Beginning this Friday with our Kabbalat Panim (pre-service reception) at 5:45 pm, Temple Sinai will once again allow food and beverages, both indoors and outdoors, at future congregational programs and services. Please note, however, that while we desire to foster increased...Read more...