So, you learned everything you needed to learn after one Seder? You know the whole Torah because you chanted from the Torah when you became bar/bat mitzvah? You still remember how to assemble the Billy Bookcase from IKEA because you did it once ten years ago? Didn't think so. Reading the directions again is typically a good course of action. The same can be said for a Second Night Seder.  We read the same story of our exodus from Egypt every year, but every year we gain some new insight. A Seder should be tailored to the folks around the table. Just as you wouldn't read a Shakespearean-themed Haggadah to a group of 5-year-olds, you wouldn't tell the story of Pesach using the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to a group of 20-somethings with no toddlers around the table.  Join us on April 16 for Temple Emanu-El's congregational seder, as we dine together and tell the story of our liberation as a synagogue family. This night will be different than all other nights because we will sit in our shared … [Read more...]

Passover is my favorite holiday. The food and family present make the Seder warm and exciting, but I really look forward to the Haggadah itself. When it comes to telling the story of our ancestors' escape from Egypt, the leaders of the Seder are commanded to do whatever it takes to keep everyone's attention. Rabbinic literature even goes so far as to allow adults to bribe children with candy and treats to sit at the table, listen, and participate! The one thing the Seder is NOT allowed to be is boring.   Second Night Seder is the time to shake things up-to fulfill the mitzvah of telling the story of our ancestor's exodus from Egypt, and to do it with a lot of engagement. At Temple Emanu-El that means extra singing, extra games, maybe even extra wine! Passover is one of the nights each year where our congregation truly becomes a family.   Thinking back two years, Purim 2020 was the last in-person event we held at Temple Emanu-El before we entered lockdown. That made Passover 2020 the … [Read more...]

"What's the best part about being Jewish?", I asked a group of 6th-grade boys today. The only three answers were (in order): the food, the holidays, and Shabbat! They're not wrong. And the best place in the world to experience it all (besides Temple Emanu-El), is in ISRAEL. Nothing compares to the food in Israel. There is no replicating fresh veggies and fruits, falafel and hummus, and a cold Coke with fries on a warm Tel Aviv day at the beach, not in New York, not in Los Angeles, and not in Atlanta. When you're with Rabbi Spike, Rabbi Rachael, and me in Jerusalem on Ben Sira St. or right off the Tel Aviv beach on Carmel St., you'll get the culinary experience of a lifetime. Even though this trip to Israel won't have a major Jewish holiday, the real eye-opening experience is to welcome Shabbat with 7 million people all at once. When we're in Jerusalem for Shabbat this June, you will hear the noise of traffic, of shops, of the whole city start to quiet. Then, the sounds of prayer, of … [Read more...]

Some folks can't make up their mind when it comes time what or where they want to eat for dinner, what they want to watch on Netflix, where they want to go on vacation, or how they want to spend their weekend. For me, these are relatively easy questions, but what will paralyze me with indecision is determining the best gift to buy for someone. Gift buying is just not my love language. When I learned that economist Tim Harford had measured which gift achieves the greatest amount of happiness, I was relieved. Finally, with mathematical precision, my problem was solved; unfortunately, the perfect gift is cold, hard cash. Economically, cash is the perfect gift, but I don't know of many people who have rosy-eyed memories about the time they received an $36 check for their birthday. In 1992, Gary Chapman came out with a book called "The Five Love Languages." It's been out for 30 years, so I'm not spoiling the punchline when I tell you that the five languages are: acts of service, … [Read more...]

Try completing a day at work or school without eating breakfast, lunch, or dinner; calling such a day "difficult" is an understatement. Yet, ONE IN SIX children in Georgia do not have enough to eat each day.* Still, these kids continue to go to school, do their homework, and try to get an education that will lead to a bright future. While public schools provide free and reduced breakfast and lunches for families who would otherwise not be able to afford to feed their children, on the weekends, without any school to attend, these kids go without. This is where synagogues, churches, and local nonprofits must step in to fill the gap. Every Sunday, thanks to the visionary leadership of two TE members, Julie and David Weiser, Temple Emanu-El packs 65 backpacks for children as a part of the Backpack Buddies Program. These backpacks, filled with shelf-stable, nutrition-rich food, provide SIXTY-FIVE children with food for the weekend. These are not children who live hours and hours away, these … [Read more...]