May is Jewish American heritage month. Even though Jews represent just 2% of the American population, we have had an outsized impact on our country. By all accounts, we are in a golden age of Jewish life in America. Even as we are mindful of the rising antisemitism in our country, a Jew born today in America has a better chance to find meaning, purpose, and success here than at any time, anywhere on earth, except, of course, for the modern state of Israel.   Each of us is an ambassador for the American Jewish community. Whether you are Jewish or part of a Jewish family, we are all representatives of our people's values, traditions, and heritage. When a student becomes a bar or bat mitzvah, when someone converts to Judaism, or when we choose to wear jewelry or clothing that identifies us as Jewish, we become mindful that our actions now reflect on the whole of the Jewish people.   For many, the Yiddish phrase, "a shande for the goyim," comes to mind. This phrase, loosely translated, … [Read more...]

After the beginning of Pesach, we count 49 days to the next major Jewish holiday, Shavuot. Ironically, though Shavuot is considered one of the top five biggest biblical holidays (next to Pesach, Sukkot, Rosh HaShanah, and Yom Kippur), most of us scratch our heads when we think about how best to commemorate a holiday based solely around the first wheat harvest in Israel. For thousands of years, our rabbis considered this dilemma too and connected Shavuot with the giving of Torah-a gift as precious and nourishing as the wheat harvested from the field.   An adage from rabbinic literature goes, "Without flour, there can be no Torah. And without Torah, there can be no flour." Undoubtedly, the author of this quote was referring to the fact that each one of us needs to be engaged in work that provides for our body just as much as the Torah provides food for our mind and soul. This is the ancient precursor to achieving a "work-life balance."   We must prioritize feeding ourselves before we can … [Read more...]

Our sage Hillel should have said these words: "If I am not for the bees, who will bee for me?"  A Buzz Worthy Announcement  In the next few weeks, you will notice some new workers around Temple Emanu-El. These workers will be growing food in our garden, helping flowers to bloom on the property, and making lots and lots of honey! Yes, you guessed it, we're welcoming two hives of honeybees to Temple Emanu-El this Spring.  Why is Temple Emanu-El bringing honeybees onto our campus?  Honeybees are crucial to human life; without honeybees, there would be no us! As a congregation that works to heal our world, hosting honeybees is one of the best and easiest ways to do that. While we may be able to taste a bit of Temple Emanu-El honey, a honeybee is worth 10 or 20 times the value of its honey. Honeybees pollinate ONE-THIRD of all crops in the United States. By hosting bees on our campus, we are adding more pollinators to the Sandy Springs/Dunwoody area. We hope you will be inspired to bring a … [Read more...]

Passover Seder is right around the corner (read: less than a month away!). There are many, many ways to conduct a Pesach seder, but I want to make sure you have three ways to elevate your seder this year.  First, bring new people to the seder; it's a mitzvah!  If you're hosting, invite a member of the Temple Emanu-El community through our Seder Shidduch service HERE. If you're a guest at someone's home this year, ask if you can bring a friend; or, spend one of the two seder nights with a new family. Temple Emanu-El's Seder Shidduch service HERE is also matching folks who want to be guests at a home.  Second, share your bread with the poor.     Every year, before we begin the seder meal, we hold up the matzah and say, "this is the bread of affliction all who are hungry come and eat." While it's a little late in that point of the seder to invite new guests, you can fulfill this command for hospitality by making donations of food or money to the Community Assistance Center, Garden Isaiah, … [Read more...]

At Temple Emanu-El, we teach our teens that Judaism is supposed to extend to all areas of life. We should not confine our Jewish identity to the home or the synagogue; rather, we should bring our Jewish values to school, work, and even in Congress! For over twenty years, Temple Emanu-El has brought countless teens to Washington for a weekend conference called L'Taken. The name of the conference comes from a core tenet of Reform Judaism, "L'Taken et HaOlam b'malchut Shaddai," to heal the world in God's name-or as we say, "Tikkun Olam." As Jews, we are obligated to take our world from a place of brokenness to wholeness. The work of Tikkun Olam must happen on a personal level, and we are responsible for the healing of our world on a grand scale. We know that one of the most effective ways to influence positive change in our country is to exercise our rights to lobby our elected officials. Throughout the weekend, our teens learn how to view the problems we face as a nation through a Jewish … [Read more...]