Blog - Temple Sinai

During this time between Pesach and Shavuot, it is traditional to read from the part of the Talmud known as Pirkei Avot. Pirkei Avot has small nuggets of wisdom intended for self-reflection and self-improvement. The idea is that our freedom (celebrated on Pesach) should inspire us to be the best people we can be to accept the gift of Torah (on Shavuot). In reviewing these verses, one stuck out to me this year.

Ben Zoma says: Who is...Read more...

Temple Sinai members are in India with Rabbi Brad Levenberg.  Follow their experience on this blog and through our Facebook Page here.

Day 5

India: Oh What a Day; Oh What a Night

Our day began as we said goodbye to Delhi. The experience was breathtaking and proved to offer quite an orientation to this amazing country. I wrote just a few days ago about some of the guiding questions and Delhi has provided...Read more...

I set my alarm to awaken a few hours earlier than normal one morning this week.  For a variety reasons, the week has been overly stressful, so I wanted to clear a few things off of my to-do list which have lived there for far too long.  Cup of coffee in hand, I sat down at the breakfast table, prepared to open the laptop and get to work.  But with the ticking clock and hum of the refrigerator as morning companions, my mind...Read more...

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I’ve been thinking a lot today about the Biblical story of the Exodus. Specifically, I have been ruminating on the start of the story, when “a Pharaoh who knew not Joseph” arose to power and decreed that all Jewish boys should be put to death. The story focuses on one defiant family who rescues a male infant from his demise, with that boy (eventually) becoming the adult Moses who, as God’s mouthpiece, rescued a people, my...Read more...

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Smartphones.  Where would we be without them?  With the simple swipe of a finger or a voice command, we have instant access to email, texts, twitter feeds, the weather forecast, directions, internet search engines, our music library, games, podcasts... Truly any information one could possibly want is available...as long as the phone battery doesn’t run out of juice!   Countless testimonials affirm...Read more...

I promise not to write about him every week. But I found myself traveling to California for our annual gathering of Reform rabbis and listening to Leonard Cohen on the five-hour flight. I came across the song Anthem, one of the more recent songs by Cohen, which contains the following lyric:

Ring the bells that still can ring

Forget your perfect offering

There is a crack in everything

That’s how the...Read more...

The Rohingya are the largest minority group in the country of Myanmar. They are the “other.” Their skin color is different, their facial features are different, their language is foreign and they practice Islam as opposed to Buddhism. And Myanmar is blaming all the nation's problems on them.

So, the Rohingya are fleeing and searching for a place to go. Many are going to Bangladesh; however, Bangladesh simply cannot absorb many...Read more...

You know the old joke, the host of the Miss America pageant asks all of the finalists what their one wish is, and they all answer “world peace.” Although a noble aspiration and certainly something we all hope for and would benefit from, can we really pray for world peace? When we sing the words of Oseh Shalom, we are saying, “May the One who makes peace in the heavens help us to make peace here on earth, to which we will say,...Read more...

“Anatoly as long as you are there,

We the children of Israel share your prayer,

Anatoly as long as you’re not free, neither are we.”  (D. Mishkin)

I recall singing those words as a teenager active in NFTY in the late 70s/early 80s, together with...Read more...

According to tradition, one must have reached the age of 40 before studying Kabbalah. But you can study Leonard Cohen at any age. And with soulful melodies such as “Hallelujah” and “Famous Blue Raincoat,” “Suzanne” and “First We Take Manhattan,” my hope is that we don’t wait another day to study Cohen.

By studying Leonard Cohen one might walk away with an appreciation of the later spirituality presented in...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 this tender prayer by Rabbi David Dine Wirtschafer provide us with a measure of...Read more...

I’ve told you this before. I love Shabbat. I think it is one of the most brilliant of commandments in Jewish observance. It is time to pause the busyness of life and just stop. What a thing to be commanded! I couldn’t think of something more valuable than being asked to stop working and just reconnect-with people, with tradition, with God. Around 3 pm on Fridays, the tenor of the office changes. Yes, we are busy getting ready for...Read more...

“Some say that I can be rough around the edges at times and that I am difficult to get to know. However, once people get to know me they discover that I am easy-going and likeable.”

“People describe me as approachable and quite friendly, willing to talk with anyone about almost anything.  What no one knows, however, is...Read more...