Rabbi's Week In Review - 8/9/2022
08/09/2022 04:23:33 PM
We observed Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the month of Av, this past weekend. It’s a day that commemorates the destruction of the first and second temples, and any churban, any persecution, that has befallen the Jewish people. It culminates a three-week period of mourning on the Jewish calendar. (This year, we actually observed it on the 10th day of Av because it is a fast day — a fast day other than Yom Kippur is postponed by a day when...Read more...
Rabbi's Week In Review - 8/1/2022
08/01/2022 04:52:38 PM
As I write this, I am visiting with family out of town over a long weekend. It has been rejuvenating — a time of happiness and a time to feel hopeful. I always struggle with finding a balance between instilling hopefulness for myself and those around me (particularly my Kol Ami family) and engaging head-on in the discouraging reality of our world.
There was some hopeful news in the past week with the possible breakthrough of...Read more...
Rabbi's Week In Review - 7/25/2022
07/25/2022 02:42:19 PM
For some reason, a good deal of my time, both within and outside Torah, has lately focused on land and borders. This week’s double portion, Matot-Masei, provides us with the most extensive, but not the only, delineation of the borders for HaAretz — the land of Israel — in our Written Torah.
This started for me back in Parashat Shelach-Lecha with the narrative regarding the 12 spies who scouted the land. What was the...Read more...
Rabbi's Week In Review - 7/18/2022
07/18/2022 04:20:22 PM
As we at Congregation Kol Ami continue the important work of pursuing justice and strengthening marginalized communities outside our synagogue community (our work with Migrant Farmworkers Assistance Fund, Martin Luther King Jr. School and Manheim Garden, as well as such issues as reproductive rights and voting rights), we also continue our focus of strengthening our internal community. In order to do all we can for others, we must be a...Read more...
Rabbi's Week In Review - 7/11/2022
07/11/2022 11:01:11 AM
It is good to be back with my Kol Ami family! While much of my time away was spent with wonderful family celebrations — weddings in New York and Chicago for two of our nieces, seeing old college friends as we dedicated a memorial to another dear college friend — plus a little downtime, I missed our time together and sharing life together.
Of course, amidst this important time to celebrate the simchas in our lives (and we all...Read more...
Rabbi's Week In Review - 6/6/2022
06/06/2022 04:00:38 PM
We are taking a bit of a hiatus at Kol Ami. We have so many volunteers who have been giving so much of their time, passion and energy to strengthen and grow this very special and different Jewish community. They need a break — some time to rest, reflect and come back with renewed energy.
The truth is that I could use a bit of a break as well. After our Shabbat picnic this Friday, I will be taking some time away from Kol Ami,...Read more...
Rabbi's Week in Review - 5/30/2022
05/30/2022 06:27:40 PM
This past week, we learned the awful news from Uvalde, Texas. I am heartsick, angry, tired and determined.
We know that the intolerable number of mass shootings — in our schools, in grocery stores, in churches, in synagogues and Jewish Community Centers, etc., etc. — is unique to the United States. Other countries — democratic countries we consider allies — have, with success, created societies free from such violence and...Read more...
Rabbi's Week In Review - 5/24/2022
05/24/2022 06:59:32 PM
There are and will be many events in response to the threat to reproductive rights established in Roe vs. Wade 50 years ago. For Kansas residents, an initiative on the ballot August 2 would amend the Kansas Constitution. If this initiative passes, the Kansas Legislature would have the ability to take away the right to an abortion.
A number of states are poised to take away that right if, as expected, Roe vs. Wade is officially...Read more...
Rabbi's Week In Review - 5/17/2022
05/17/2022 12:55:02 PM
We had a truly wonderful Shabbat celebration this past Friday night with our kids, supported by our adult members. Thanks to Erica Clinton, for planning a joyous family experience; to our featured musician, Brendan Howard; and to our music director, Lara Steinel.
Having so many of our kids present gave us so...Read more...
Fri, August 12 2022
15 Av 5782
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