Parashat Naso is a favorite of mine. The parasha includes the Priestly Blessing, the words we use every Shabbat to bless children: May God bless you and keep you safe. May God's light shine upon you and be gracious to you. May God turn towards you and grant you peace. We take every occasion to use this blessing because it encompasses all our most fundamental wishes and prayers: safety, kindness, and peace. Whenever I sit down with a bar or bat mitzvah student, I tend to focus on this section of the parasha over others. All the instructions of the Torah haven't exactly aged well, and Parashat Naso contains an example that proves the point. Parashat Naso spends over a dozen verses to instruct the reader on what to do when a woman is suspected of having an adulterous relationship. First, I ought to point out that this only deals with a woman and not a man-strike one. Second, no punishment is levied against the man-strike two. Third and final, the test for ascertaining her guilt … [Read more...]
Tonight is Shavuot!
Tonight, we celebrate the 'giving of Torah' with the holiday of Shavuot! Theologically, this evening is considered a 'thin' place in time, where the barriers between the Divine and the earthly realm are most porous. Our Kabbalists believed that we could most easily connect to God through active study of Jewish religious texts on Shavuot. Study, in Judaism, is considered spiritually on par with prayer, and on Shavuot the tradition (from the Zohar) is to joyously engage with one another all through the night. I love this. For me, Shavuot is interesting and fun. Year after year, when we study together on Shavuot, the evening creates a profound connection to our wisdom tradition and the Jewish people around the world. So…At 6:00pm, local Reform rabbis and congregants from around Atlanta will gather at Temple Emanu-El for a light (dairy) repast, the chanting of the ten commandments, and then everyone will pick one of five topics to study, each with a different rabbi or cantor. Won't … [Read more...]
My Field Trip to Mercedes Benz Stadium
This past Tuesday, dozens of rabbis from around Atlanta gathered at Molly B's inside Mercedes Benz Stadium (MBS) to begin a day-long retreat sponsored by the Atlanta Rabbinical Association. The most impactful time at MBS was when Rabbi Spike, Rabbi Rachael, and I heard from Dietmar Exler, the COO of Arthur M. Blank Sports and Entertainment, about what running a massive operation like MBS entails. We learned that MBS is the highest-rank stadium by any metric in the country. When Dietmar went into the details of how that happens, the clear lesson was to treat every person in the stadium, guests and employees, with the highest quality of service. While our budget is slightly less than MBS, we were able to draw some connections to our own work in the Jewish community. We are after similar goals: to foster positive connections between Jews and Judaism within our building and among our members. We also studied how architecture and design affect our experiences. Entering MBS, our eyes are … [Read more...]
Hey, I know you!
When I was living in Jerusalem, there was a retired rabbi who used to host rabbinical students in their home who were alumni of the AEPi fraternity. As the girlfriend of an AEPi alum I was invited to join in the Shabbat dinner. When we arrived to the apartment we were greeted with a big smile from a gregarious man and his wife. As we waited for others to arrive I was looking around at the beautiful art and of course the pictures of kids and grandkids that sprinkled the apartment. Pretty soon into my exploration I picked a photo up and showed it to the rabbi. I said, "hey, are these your grandkids?" "yes" I responded, "do they live in Los Angeles?" "yes" Again I share, "well would you look at that, I was their Sunday school teacher last year!" We would go on to enjoy some Jewish geography and a beautiful Shabbat dinner. We sang Shabbat dinner table songs - loud enough that the neighbor downstairs came knocking on the door yelling at us to keep it down, to which the rabbi … [Read more...]
May the 4th Be with You —Happy Jewish American Heritage Month
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...]
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