Rabbi’s Messages

September 2016

Posted on September 1, 2016

This past July 10th, I, along with eleven other Boston area rabbis, boarded a Lufthansa flight in what would be a captivating, exciting, profoundly moving week’s journey to Germany.

A little about why I went to Germany. I was invited to participate in a first ever Boston area rabbinic mission to Germany sponsored by the German Government. Our destinations were Munich and Berlin. I was the sole rabbi from MetroWest. The mission’s theme was Remembrance and Hope. We were honored to be accompanied by the German Consul General to Boston, Dr. Ralf Horlemann, with whom we all became very close to as a friend.

June 2016

Posted on June 1, 2016

There is a wonderful midrash describing how not only the Children of Israel who were redeemed from Egypt received Torah, but that every generation that followed, including our own, was also present at Sinai. We witnessed Revelation then and will recreate the Revelation experience as we gather together our community-wide L’ayl Tikkun Shavout celebration at Temple Israel.

On Saturday night, June 11th, TBS will join Temple Israel, MetroWest Jewish Day School, and five other area synagogues for a spectacular evening of tefillot, Torah study, and workshops. Last year’s program was attended by over 150 people of all ages and was a tremendous success.

May 2016

Posted on May 2, 2016

One of the many ways we show our sense of hope as a Jewish community is at our annual joint Yom HaShoah service. Temple Beth Sholom unites with Temple Beth Am and Temple Israel to commemorate and zachor—remember the Holocaust. It is a poignant time of reflection. Our service this year is at Temple Israel in Natick, on May 4th at 7:30 PM.

Each year, the service revolves around a different theme or speaker. A few years ago at TBS, we had Israeli IDF soldiers join us for a very moving ceremony. Proudly, they marched in with teens from our three area Jewish youth groups.

April 2016

Posted on April 1, 2016

Four Matzah Questions for Pesach

What is flour plus water plus 18 minutes? Matzah! This is the actual definition of matzah. The rabbis declared that once the water comes in contact with the flour, no more than 18 minutes may pass from start to finish, including the baking. That’s it. This flat wafer-like food is one of the most universal Jewish symbols. Throughout history, Jews in every location and circumstance endeavored to bake or otherwise procure matzah for Passover. There have also been many complaints about matzah over the years–tastes like burnt cardboard, lousy for digestion or diet, no flavor, messy—just to name a few.

March 2016

Posted on March 1, 2016

Purim Madness!

One of the first things to come to mind when I think about Purim is “balagan”—sheer madness! Noisy kids running around, lots of talking, eating, and of course, drinking! Not to mention all of the “booing” as we blot out Haman’s name. A little crazy, yes, but lots of fun.

The main event, of course, is the reading of the Esther story. Unlike other books of the Tanakh, the Book of Esther describes a salvation not from a God acting from above, but from a God who appears to work through and within history. The day is won through the clever plotting of Esther and Mordecai, representatives of a politically astute and well-connected Jewish community wholly integrated into the political and social life of their time and place.

February 2016

Posted on February 1, 2016

There is an interesting Jewish calendar event happening February 23rd: Purim Katan or “little Purim.” It’s not the real Purim we know about, but a way of acknowledging the date that Purim falls in the month of Adar. While Purim Katan is not an actual festival day, it does have some special observances that are worth noting. First, some background information.

Purim always falls in the Hebrew month of Adar, the last month of the Jewish calendar. Normally, Adar falls during the secular calendar months of March or February. It is the only month designated as Adar I or Adar II, depending on the nineteen-year lunar cycle.

January 2016

Posted on January 8, 2016

There is a battle over surrounding Western Civilization’s youngest religion, Islam. Political candidates spar over how to refer to the “right wing” of Islam. Labels like Jihad, radicalism, fundamentalism, ISIS, ISIL, Sharia law are tossed around without certainty about what each really means. What is certain is the disconnect between these labels and a spiritually beautiful faith.

I had an opportunity to appreciate the beauty of Islam this past spring, when I spent a bit of time with a wonderfully caring, articulate, and warm Imam from Great Britain. In the car ride back from a delicious kosher steak dinner, (we both had religious dietary requirements!),

December 2015

Posted on November 25, 2015

I want to formally introduce to you a new Torah learning program that I’ve recently begun offering: Rabbi’s Lunch & Learn. Following occasional Shabbat morning services, we convene in the social hall for lunch gathered around a horse-shoe shaped table where learn Torah together. Using both traditional and modern commentaries, we delve into a particularly challenging or thought provoking section from the parsha. The turnout for our first two pilot sessions has been tremendous.

For our first session in October, we looked at the origin of violence in the Cain and Abel story, a timely conversation given the outbreak of stabbings by Palestinians against Israelis.

November 2015

Posted on October 29, 2015

לְכוּ נְרַנְּנָה לַיהֹוָה נָרִיעָה לְצוּר יִשְׁעֵנוּ

Let us Sing to the Eternal, rejoice in our Creator, Ps. 95

שִׁירוּ לַיהֹוָה שִׁיר חָדָשׁ

Sing a new song to the Lord, Ps. 96

These verses, from the opening lines of our Friday night Kabbalat Shabbat Services, help us transition from the weekday secular world into the joyousness, rest, and renewal of Shabbat. Singing songs of joy together helps us connect to God and celebrate Shabbat. The Hebrew word for singing together in one harmonious chorus is “pizmon.” Pizmon is also the name of the collegiate Jewish a cappella group comprised of students from Columbia University, Barnard College, and Jewish Theological Seminary’s List College.

September/October 2015

Posted on September 23, 2015

In his recent book, For Every Season, Jeff Bernhardt recounts a story about an environmental science class he took in college. The class met early in the morning and Bernhardt, who was always punctual, liked to sit in the front of the large, sparsely filled hall. He enjoyed the lectures immensely. As the mid-term exam approached, Bernhardt prepared diligently.

On the day of the test, Bernhardt, although confident about the material, was taken aback when he entered the lecture hall. The room was packed and nearly every seat was taken. Where were these students all semester? How could they just show up for the exam and be ready for it?