Category: Uncategorized
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To Be Blessed With Everything : A Thanksgiving Sermon
This week’s parasha opens with the death of Sarah and Abraham’s purchase of the cave of Machpelah in which she will be buried. After burying and mourning his wife, scriptures tells us G-d blessed Abraham “bah-kol”. This is conventionally translated as “G-d blessed Abraham with everything”. But what is “everything”? Is it “everything that money could buy”? Is it “everything Abraham ever wanted”? As we know, each letter in the Hebrew alphabet has a numerical…
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Anniversary of the Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
To See and To Do The Torah is a remarkably terse document that uses surprisingly few words. For example, if you want to know what Abraham looked like, the Bible does not tell us. The Bible describes King Saul as “tall and good looking” and describes King David as “handsome”, but that is about it…
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A Born Chooser
The In our Torah portion for this week, Avram is called by G-d. G-d says to Avram “Leave your birthplace, your home, the home of your father, and come with me to the Land which I will show you.” Why was Abraham in particular, called by G-d? Last week we read the story of Noah.…
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Exploring Beneath the Surface
Have any of you ever been scuba diving? I have been snorkeling. The two most memorable times have been on a reef at the tip of the Sinai desert at a place called Ras Muhammad, and off the beach on Culebra island in Puerto Rico. It was astounding to see an underwater world that I…
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All My Bones Cry Out
Recently a five-year-old girl was attending her first bar mitzvah our synagogue. She looked on expectantly as she waited for the service to begin. She saw the Cantor on the bima tuning her guitar. She saw the bar mitzvah boy all dressed up in suit and tie getting fitted with his lapel microphone. She saw…
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Will YOU 10Q? : Shabbat Shofetim
We are fast approaching the Yamim Noraim, the High Holidays. Only three more weeks to go.As we all know people the world over celebrate their respective s New Years with drinks, with specific foods and with parties. Fireworks have long been a staple of New Year celebrations in many parts of the world along with…
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Knocking on Heaven's Door
This evening marks the beginning of the month of Elul. The month of Elul is a time of preparation for the New Year. In a few weeks we will gather in this sanctuary to celebrate RoshHashanah. Although we can repent and return to G-d every day of our lives, the sages emphasize that the month…
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Accepting the Torah Parasha Eikev 5779
The Rabbis tell two stories about how Israel accepted the Torah. The first is a modern retelling of an ancient midrash by Rabbis Rick and Ellissa Sherwin: God had gone to the nations of the earth and asked them to accept a gift, the Torah. One nation asked, “What does it say?” God answered, “You…
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BDS and Israel's Barring of US Congresswomen
“Israel Bars Two US Congresswomen” blared the headline from the front page of the Chicago Tribune. I thought that you might want to hear my thoughts on this. By now we all have heard the story. Following a tweet by the President suggesting that Israel block the planned visit of Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida…
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A Message About Poway
My Dear Congregants, Sadly, I once again write following a tragic and needless atrocity, this time against Jews celebrating the final day of Passover in their synagogue. Clearly, we Jews are not alone in being gunned down in our places of worship. The shooting at the Chabad synagogue in Poway comes on the heels of…
Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph 