INQUIRE, STUDY DEEPLY, STUDY REPEATEDLY Why do we read the entire Torah in annual cycles? Every year, starting and ending at Simchat Torah we read, in the same order, the same words from the five books of Moses. Is there not some concern the repetition will become rote or even boring? Might we not just Continue Reading »
A QUESTION OF SEQUENCE A friend pointed out an interesting anomaly in a portion of our liturgy. There are a number of places in the service, notably early in the Torah service where we say “HaShem Melech, HaShem Moloch HaShem Yimloch la’olam va’ed, God is King, God was King, God will be king for Continue Reading »
THE CHANGES TO THE AMIDAH FOR THE HIGH HOLIDAY SEASON Each year, between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, there are changes and additions to the weekday and the holiday and Shabbat Amidah. There are changes to all of the first three blessings. To one of the thirteen weekday petitions, and to the last two. Taken Continue Reading »
MI SHEBERACH The prayer we call Mi Sheberach, because it starts with those words, is usually recited as a request of healing. The Continue Reading »
SHOFAR BLOWING DURING ELUL During the month of Elul, the last Hebrew month before Rosh Hashanah, the Shofar is sounded at every morning service except Shabbat. In our congregation we also blow shofar at night, a custom we developed for congregants who, because of work schedules etc., could not make the morning minyan. The sounding Continue Reading »
DEUTERONOMY AS METAPHOR The book of D’varim (Deuteronomy) can be looked upon as a metaphor for personal growth. Let’s start with a look at Moses at the burning bush in Exodus, chapter 3. Moses has, rather impetuously, killed an Egyptian taskmaster and had to flee to Midian. Now he is tending his father-in-law’s sheep Continue Reading »
THE FAST DAYS I was thinking about the rituals commemorating the humiliating defeat of Israel/Judea culminating with the destruction of the first and second Temples first by the Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE and later the Roman Empire in 70 CE. Our rituals concerning national calamity involve scriptural readings, changes to the prayer Continue Reading »
REFLECTIONS ON COUNTING THE OMER We are told in Leviticus 23:15-16 starting with the eve of the second day of Pesach, (when in temple times we are to bring an omer of barley as an offering) we are to count seven weeks, 49 days. The day after the end of seven weeks will make fifty Continue Reading »
CAN THERE BE JEWISHNESS AND SPIRITUALITY WITHOUT” GOD-CENTRICITY” (for DIH with love and respect) The question arises “can I be spiritual and have a sense of connected Jewishness without stressing the primacy of God and a relationship with God? I have known proclaimed atheists who are still very spiritual people. I know secular, non-observant Continue Reading »
YOUR OWN RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD To me, a big part of religious involvement is developing and understanding a relationship with God. I understand that this is not necessarily true of everyone. I understand that there are people who feel a connection to, and who observe religious tradition without a deep sense of connectedness to God Continue Reading »
