During our Diamond Family Religious School 3rd through 8th-grade tefillah (prayer service) this past Sunday, I invited the children of our congregation to take a moment for silent prayer. I want each of you to take a few deep breaths, to feel your feet on the floor in this holy space and to open up your heart to God and the universe. This is a special place where you can have a sacred conversation with yourself and the world. This sanctuary is here for you. Take a few moments and talk to God with the prayers of your heart. When you’ve finished your prayers, please take a seat and be respectful of your friends who might still be praying. Then it was silent — super, super silent. As I looked out at the kids, a few of them sat down fairly quickly — that’s to be expected. What I didn’t expect was the number of kids whose eyes were shut tight, their eyebrows narrowed, and their mouths moving ever so slightly as they were completely enveloped in deep prayer. At every grade level, … [Read more...]

I’ve been thinking a lot this week about ‘courage’. Specifically, acts of Jewish courage, both from year’s past and since Pittsburgh. Also part of the context for my thinking is that we are coming up on Veteran’s Day, and I know the contribution that Jews have made in the US Military service since we were but thirteen colonies. This then, will be our ‘theme’ for tomorrow night’s Shabbat service.  Interwoven between our timeless prayers of hope and connection, will be stories of courage. I’m also pleased to have Temple Emanu-El past president Norman Zoller share some thoughts on his military service (starting with two tours of Vietnam: Special Forces & 82nd Airborne, with a total of 22 years military service), and how it relates to his Judaism. This will be a service designed to raise us up, to inspire us, and to remind us of what real courage looks like, from the battlefield to Middle School. We will be honoring our Vets, and our country, as part of our time … [Read more...]

The prophet Isaiah’s words, “Nachamu, Nachamu Ami/ be comforted, be comforted, my people” will echo through synagogues throughout America this Shabbat, as we mourn, grieve, and perhaps begin to heal. This has been a tough week.  In some ways, everything has changed.  In other ways, nothing has changed. The violence fueled by mentally unstable men armed with assault rifles who follow ideologies of hate that has plagued our schools, our concerts, and other houses of worship with increasing frequency has hit home in a way that pierces our Jewish soul. We have held one another, we have shown up in record numbers, and vowed to be stronger than any hate that we might face. The barrage of support that we, the Jewish community, has experienced from others has been a testament to the human spirit. For many of us, we continue to mourn (a dream, an ideal, lives lost…) even as we go about our daily lives.  For some the Tree of Life is a call to action, for others it is a hard look … [Read more...]

This was the question that began the most recent Adult B’nei Mitzvah session. After the first few students answered, I began to notice a pattern: each student’s moment of greatest Jewish pride was associated with Israel! One student described that the moment when she felt the most pride in her Jewish identity was when Israel sent emergency teams to Haiti after the earthquake in 2010. While larger, wealthier, and more powerful countries also sent aid to the Caribbean island, Israel was one of the earliest on the scene and made the greatest impact in the rescue effort. When I saw the first images of the rescue and relief effort in Haiti I will never forget the pride I felt seeing the Star of David on the shoulder patches of aid workers amidst the tragedy after the earthquake. Even though there are no Israeli citizens in our Adult B’nei Mitzvah class, many of the participants felt that when Israel succeeds, Jewish people all over the world swell with pride. IsraAID is the name of the … [Read more...]

These past few weeks, I’ve found myself unexpectedly grateful. Let me explain. On Yom Kippur, you heard the heartfelt High Holiday Appeal given by Elliot Siegel and Mitch Lewis. Mitch spoke about how he, and his wife Kathy, had not felt engaged to TE, or their Judaism, for a while and were thinking about leaving.  They were conflicted because of all the time and memory that they had invested into Emanu-El. And then they got a call “from some guy named Spike” (me, their new Senior Rabbi).  Mitch explained that at my invitation, we sat together and talked about things that mattered, about their Jewish history, and their spiritual journey.  Together we shared a vision of how things could be, and how through Temple Emanu-El, they could again explore aspects of themselves that were beckoning, but were dormant. Our meeting was a catalyst, and one that we both can look back on as a really important starting point. So what am I unexpectedly grateful for? In the weeks since … [Read more...]