Category: Uncategorized
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October Newsletter Article
Between Israel and the Nations When I practiced as a psychotherapist I learned a valuable lesson – what people tell you is not nearly as important, at times, as what people leave out. So it peaks my interest when our newsletter editor quotes from the Havdalah blessing that is in our prayer book, Kol Haneshama. …
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Yom Kippur Day 5773
Olympic Mettle This past summer we were witness to the Olympic Games in London. Although there had been many concerns about terrorism, transportation, and weather, the games came off magnificently. A few weeks later London hosted the Paralympics, a multi-sport event for the disabled, in the same stadium venues. These games, recently concluded, were a…
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Kol Nidre 5773
Well, Well, Well! Why is this night different from all other nights? I know, it isn’t Passover! On all other nights our prayers begin with praises to G-d, but on this night we do not begin with praises to G-d. Perplexing indeed! What’s more, this holiest day of the Jewish year, a day when we…
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Shabbat Shuvah
Return to Who You Are This Shabbat is called “Shabbat TeShuvah” – The Sabbath of Repentance – because it falls between Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur, during the Ten Days of Repentance. It is also called “Shabbat Shuvah” – The Sabbath of Return – after the first few words of the special Haftorah for the…
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Rosh Hashannah Day 1 5773
One of my favorite stories is one which you perhaps have heard as well. In the old Soviet Union there was a minimum security work camp. The prisoners worked inside the camp during the day, and then left the camp at the end of work and slept in a village nearby. A guard stood at…
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Erev Rosh Hashannah 5773
The Five “R” s of Repentance One of the most popular radio programs in the United States is Car Talk. Tom and Ray Magliozzi, also known as Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers, have been a mainstay of National Public Radio for twenty five years. Car Talk draws over four million listeners every week. On…
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Parasha Nitzavim
The Angel Within Whenever he sculpted a piece of marble, Michelangelo would go to the quarry outside of Florence to see the section of rock from which it came, the cliff from which it was hewn. Without that larger setting or context he could not appreciate or understand the stone that he was sculpting. He…
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Parasha Ki Tavo
I've Got A Secret Have you ever been driving around in your car, and a song comes on the radio, a song of say, Frank Sinatra, and he’s singing “I’ve got the world on a string” and that song is so upbeat, and you are feeling great because it is a beautiful spring day,…
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Parasha Ki Tetze
Love and Justice The story is told of Rabbi Simeon ben Shetah. He was one of our great sages. He believed his learning had been a gift to him from his teachers, and he wanted to make it a gift to his students. So, he never charged them for their lessons, but instead earned his…
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Parasha Shoftim 5772
Balancing Justice and Compassion Last week thousands of young people gathered at Navy Pier in Chicago. The crowd was so large that it spilled off the pier, through the park and along Lake Shore Drive. No, it wasn’t for the Chicago Air Show, which also took place last week. These were young people, there to…
Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph 