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Rabbi's Week in Review - 11/4/2024

11/04/2024 02:16:03 PM

Nov4

At the time of this writing, I/we have no idea as to the outcome of what I see as the most important election — certainly the most important election in my lifetime. I do think, regardless of the outcome, that there will be a couple of truths to consider.

The problems that have plagued our country for many, many years prior to this election will still be our problems afterward. We at Congregation Kol Ami will need to do what we can...Read more...

Rabbi's Week in Review - 10/28/2024

10/28/2024 06:13:53 PM

Oct28

As I write this, we are one week away from elections. I have and will continue to express my concerns regarding the outcome of the election. In that regard, a reflection or two.

As I have stated on numerous occasions, and will continue to remind everyone, no one is required to agree with me to be part of the Kol Ami community. I have to confess to my own sense of fear as to possible outcomes of the election.  

Please...Read more...

Rabbi's Week in Review - 10/21/2024

10/21/2024 01:55:24 PM

Oct21

I know it sounds cliche, but it really is hard to believe that as I write this, we have made our way through the Yamim Noraim, the Days of Awe from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, and now are midway through Sukkot. I have to admit that I have approached this time with a bit of fear — fear as to the possible outcome of the coming election and fear for the future of Israel-Palestine.

Sukkot, Z’man Simchateinu, the season of our joy, is...Read more...

Rabbi's Week in Review - 10/14/2024

10/14/2024 04:47:07 PM

Oct14

It is always a gift for me to gather with the Congregation Kol Ami community/family. Our High Holy Days — both our Rosh Hashanah celebration and our reflective, serious observance of Yom Kippur — are both given meaning by sharing them in community.

This point was driven home to me in our Yom Kippur study session. We kicked off the “How and Why of Prayer” by asking why we pray. Amongst the more pervasive answers was the draw...Read more...

Rabbi's Week in Review - 10/8/2024

10/08/2024 09:46:10 AM

Oct8

As we approach Yom Kippur 5785, I wish everyone a meaningful day of teshuvah, of repentance, with an eye on how we can make the coming year better than the last and support one another in community. For those fasting, may your fast be one of meaning without risking harm to your health.

Rabbi's Week in Review - 10/1/2024

10/01/2024 06:07:27 AM

Oct1

I was a speaker this past week for the annual dinner of the Crescent Peace Society at the Islamic Center of Johnson County. I was grateful for the opportunity — that they would welcome my Jewish voice in their sacred space at a time when we are seen as being in opposition to each other.

My message is one I will continue to share on Rosh Hashanah and in the year to come, 5785. That in fighting for our own voice, and in fighting...Read more...

Rabbi's Week in Review - 9/23/2024

09/23/2024 03:27:13 PM

Sep23

I had the joy this past week of gathering together a beit din, a Jewish court, to welcome seven new converts into our Congregation Kol Ami Jewish family. Those who came before the beit din studied for the past year in the community-wide conversion class, wrote an essay, and engaged in discussion with the beit din.

The essays reflected the individual personalities of each of our new congregants. (These seven wonderful people have...Read more...

Rabbi's Week in Review - 9/16/2024

09/16/2024 02:19:55 PM

Sep16

I sort of watched the debate last week. I was on a website that was providing occasional commentary and I would selectively unmute. I have read a good deal of follow-up and, yes, I do think there was a clear winner. That said, my thoughts turned toward what a win would like for the American people and for our Jewish people. As it turns out, they are really much the same.

Our Jewish values obligate us toward the strangers in our midst,...Read more...

Rabbi's Week in Review - 9/9/2024

09/09/2024 03:01:47 PM

Sep9

This comes a week later than I had hoped. When heading out of town last week, I wrote my blog early, before the most pertinent news of the week had come out. That news was the murder of six of the Israelis held hostage by Hamas.  

The best known of the six was Hersh Goldberg-Polin, known not because his life mattered more than the other five hostages — they were all gute neshamas, good souls, who touched the lives of...Read more...

Rabbi's Week in Review - 9/2/2024

09/02/2024 02:24:59 PM

Sep2

We look forward this week to celebrating the bar mitzvah of Elliot Sutkin. Becoming a bat/bar mitzvah, a child of the commandments, is a rite of passage in the Jewish world. It is, for those we celebrate, a time when they begin to take on obligations to participate in, and provide support to, the community.  

It is actually the community’s celebration. Observing the commandments, knowing that it is through ethical and...Read more...

Tue, November 5 2024 4 Cheshvan 5785