Earlier this week, I was jolted awake from a dead sleep at 1:10 a.m. by the piercing sound of my smoke detector. This was not the annoying beeping sound those detectors make when you burn the salmon on the cast iron skillet, no, this was the most terrifying, loud, screech that ensured that if something were wrong, I would wake up. This sound blasted through the apartment because the fire alarm in my section of the complex was ringing through the halls. As I gathered some things to exit the apartment, I finally got my breath back, and my first thought was, “I hope everyone is okay, let everyone be okay.” I was undoubtedly holding some other feelings at that moment as well, but I was almost relieved that this was my first reaction, because I don’t believe it would have been my first thought a few months back. However, I had recently studied a teaching by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, also known as Reb Zalman, and a founder of the Renewal movement. He suggests that when we hear a … [Read more...]
Rabbi, what’s the best part of Israel?
You could say the beaches of Tel Aviv, the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the tastes and smells of the amazing food, or the sounds of Hebrew, but truly the best part of Israel is the people! When we visit Israel and come back home, the most precious thing we bring back cannot be purchased from any store. The most valuable part of our visit is our relationship with the people. Sadly, not everyone has the opportunity to visit Israel and make these relationships. Fortunately, we as a Temple Emanu-El community, have an amazing opportunity to bring a piece of Israel into our home. This year, Temple Emanu-El will host an incredible young Israeli who will be with us nearly every week. The program that enables us to have such an opportunity is called in Hebrew, “Sh’nat Sherut” or Year of Service (shorthand we call it “Shinshin,” like the letter “shin” said twice). Through the Jewish Federation of Atlanta and the Jewish Agency, each child at Temple Emanu-El will have the opportunity to learn … [Read more...]
Rabbi, do we give to the people with cups and cardboard signs asking for money on the street?
What if they use the money to buy drugs or alcohol? We can’t possibly know what they’ll do with it, can we? During rabbinical school in Cincinnati, I lived in a beautiful, walkable neighborhood surrounded by Victorian-style houses, apartments, shops, and the characters of Ludlow Avenue. Just a two-minute walk from my apartment we had a theatre that showed artsy films and midnight showings of Rocky Horror Picture Show. We had the Moroccan restaurant, Graeter’s ice cream, coffee shops, our neighborhood bar, a small, unbecoming concert venue, and lots and lots of people. When I walked to Ludlow Ave, I always carried dollar bills, because, on the corner of Telford and Ludlow, there was usually someone standing there, asking for money. This person was familiar; they were often there with their kind eyes and gentle demeanor. But every once in a while, some new faces were asking for money. One evening, on my way to meet friends at the neighborhood bar, a man approached me to see if I had a … [Read more...]
Blessings to Our Graduates
This week’s parshah, Naso, has us poised in the desert wilderness, neither here nor there, but ready to move on to the next step of the journey. The Torah goes on to describe how the twelve tribes (our ancestors) were encamped around the Ark of the Covenant, with each tribe sporting a degel machaneh, a flag of that camp; for all the world to see. When it was time for the Israelite people to move forward, trumpet blasts were sounded, and each tribe, led by its flag, its degel machaneh, would together move forward into the unknown. But how would they know when to move forward, and when to stay put? God gave our ancestors a signal to follow- a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. When the pillar rested above the Mishkan, our portable tabernacle, that meant that we were to remain camped. This was a time to regroup, to refresh, and find our balance. But when that pillar moved, that was our signal to break camp and move with it. This liminal state of … [Read more...]
The Spiritual Big Bang
This Saturday night, starting at 6pm here at Temple Emanu-El, we will begin our evening of learning to celebrate Shavuot. Shavuot is the holiday that commemorates God’s revelation of Torah to the Jewish people, and our ability to receive it (continuously) today. Do you believe that God revealed the Torah to Moses on Sinai? Or, do you believe that the Torah was written by dozens of authors over centuries, with (perhaps) The Divine in the editing process? Either way, Judaism holds that you are able to actively participate in an ongoing spiritual evolution that gradually has the potential to bring you, and the world, towards a place of goodness, justice, and meaning. Shavuot is our annual celebration of this possibility. In conjunction with some of our neighboring Reform Synagogues, we will have the chance to engage in a spiritual sing-along (outside, weather permitting), options to learn in short study sessions with various rabbis, and have a traditional diary (cheesecake) … [Read more...]
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