Rabbi's Week in Review Blog

We know all too well that our story — the story of our exodus and being freed from bondage — is only the beginning of our story. We have been fighting ever since for our freedom — the freedom to be who we are as Jews, without fear or threat of harm or persecution. Yet, being redeemed from slavery serves as a foundation of hope. For whatever dire straits we are in, we always hold out hope.

We are not alone in the importance we...Read more...

This past Friday evening, we celebrated our third Shabbat Shulchan — a very informal Erev Shabbat service followed by a Seudah, a shared festive Shabbat meal at our “Shabbat Table.” All three of our Shabbat Shulchan celebrations (held on the second Friday evening of the month) have welcomed new people into the Kol Ami community.

I am always proud and grateful for how our Kol Ami family is so welcoming to every new person who...Read more...

I/we take this time to reflect on our lives, both communally and individually. Not so much because of celebrating the secular new year (although that’s not a bad reason to do some productive contemplation), but rather that in our very short and colder days, days filled with more darkness than light, we naturally take on a more internal focus. We search for the light within.

In our daily study of a page of Talmud, Daf Yomi, we are...Read more...

I am looking forward this week, with great anticipation, to renewing our traditional Congregation Kol Ami Chanukah celebration. This has always been a special time for us when we all light our Chanukah menorahs together.  

A special shout-out to Roberta Solomon, who, in my first year with Kol Ami, set me up for storytelling — with an easy chair, a lamp and my cardigan sweater. It is that kind of creative thought that has...Read more...

In our limmud, our study together, we have been delving into prayer. Specifically, we have been studying “why we pray what we pray.” The group discussions and insights that have ensued have been extraordinary. We are gaining a deeper understanding of prayer with a greater sense of intention over our prayers. We have seen how prayers serve to create our very complex relationships with G-d, with each other as Jews, and with the broader...Read more...