Category: Uncategorized
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The Courage to Move Forward
James Tissot Spies Returning from Canaan Our parasha for this week is crucial to understanding the Exodus story. A mere two years out of Egypt, the Israelites are about to enter the Promised Land. Moses sends 12 spies to reconnoiter the Land. Two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, return confident that the Israelites can successfully…
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It's All in the Preparation
Depiction of the Menorahsketched in Maimonides’ own hand. Our parasha for this week opens with the command that Aaron the High Priest is to be tasked with lighting the seven candles of the Menorah daily. This follows last week’s parasha, where the heads of each tribe bring gifts at the dedication of the Tabernacle. Neither Aaron,…
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The Murder of George Floyd
Dear Congregants and Friends, Six days ago our nation and the world witnessed the killing, caught on camera, of George Floyd, a 46 year old Black American man in the custody of the Minneapolis Police Department. By now the horrific image has been seared into the consciousness of the American public – a Minneapolis police…
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The Voice
Photo by Jason Rosewell on Unsplash The Book of Leviticus opens with G-d calling to Moses, thus giving this third book of the Torah its name in Hebrew, “Vayikra”. Have you ever wondered what G-d’s voice sounds like? At Mount Sinai G-d’s voice appears to be overwhelming and frightening. The people who hear it beg…
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When Civilization Begins
Photo by Adrien xplr on Unsplash According to the Talmud, young children are supposed to start their Torah study with this week’s Torah portion, which is the beginning of the book of Leviticus. This has never made sense to me because this week’s Torah portion is all about animal sacrifice. It is a little bit…
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Is the Corona-virus an Act of God?
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash Last week a congregant wrote me to ask me a question. “Rabbi,” they write, “Our school district has cancelled classes and states the missed days will never be made up, as they call this an “Act of G-d.” My question to you is just that: is this really an Act of G-d?…
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Pursuing Fame and Glory
I recently watched a movie made in 2004 called “Troy”. It stars Brad Pitt in the role of Achilles. It tells the story of Achilles, the greatest warrior of all Greek heroes. The Greeks are about to go to war against Troy but Achilles is reluctant and to fight. Achilles senses that he is not…
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Sacred Spaces – A Synagogue Initiative for the #Me Too Era
In this week’s Parasha, Bo, we find the commandment to wear tefillin. Tefillin are small square black boxes that contain certain biblical verses. These boxes are attached to straps. We attach one box to our arm, and one box to our head by means of these straps. Each day during morning prayers, except on the…
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Let Our Daughters Dream Too
Jessica Meir tweets her Hanukah greetings from theInternational Space Station December 2020 This week in our parasha we read about that dreamer par excellence, Joseph. The second youngest child among 12 sons, he dreams of his older brothers one day bowing down to him. His brothers ridicule him for his dreaming, and his father, Jacob,…
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Chanukah Sermon
These are dark times indeed. All over the world, we Jewish people continue to experience, hate, intolerance, disrespect in all sorts of ways. Acts of antisemitism remain a plague in our world. Ten days ago a 31 year old Israeli was brutally beaten in a Paris Metro after two men heard him speaking Hebrew over…
Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph 