Rabbi's Week in Review Blog

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...

I attended a shiva service this past week for Ruth Roth. She attended our High Holy Day services at Kol Ami but was not well-known in our community. I met Ruth through my time as a rabbinic intern at Ohev Sholom. She became interested in our shul after Ohev’s merger with Beth Shalom. I learned that she really enjoyed our service and was interested in joining Kol Ami.

I do not mention this to slip in an accolade for Kol Ami. For me,...Read more...

I attended a retreat for my rabbinic fellowship, the Clergy Leadership Incubator, at the Brandeis-Bardin retreat center in Simi Valley, California, last week. Having been the recipient of an onslaught of information, as well as a highly emotional experience, I have much to unpack from my four days there.

One piece that stands out came from one of the presenters, Rabbi Sharon Brous, of Ikar. Ikar is a cutting-edge synagogue in L.A.,...Read more...