Have you ever been in the situation where you sit at the bedside of someone you love who is barely hanging onto life? There is a feeling of both helplessness and urgency, for you care so deeply, and the time that you do have is vulnerable. The rabbis of old classify such a person who is barely hanging onto life as a ‘goses’, and there are strong suggestions on how to interact in their presence, even though they are acutely passive. One such piece of advice from our sages is that we are not allowed to talk about their death, or what will happen afterwards, in their presence. Why? Because they opine that the ‘goses’, in some way or form, can hear what we say.  AND, that what we say in their presence, even the mood that we create around their prone body, will affect them profoundly.  Who are we to take away hope for them to live with assumptions we might audibly put forth? This is not to say that their life will not run its natural course…and often we can do nothing about their … [Read more...]

“Within the synagogue, music is not an end in itself but a means of religious experience. Its function is to help us to live through a moment of confrontation with the presence of God….religious music is an attempt to convey that which is within our reach but beyond our grasp.” A.J Heschel “Vocation of the Cantor” Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel loved music. Heschel loved music for not only its beautfy and inspiration but, also for the way music expresses the inexpressible. Heschel valued music so deeply because of its ability to elevate our spirits to a higher level, creating a closeness between one another as community, and a closeness between an individual and God. Coming up this month, we have an incredible amount of musical experiences to share with you. I hope that these experiences will emulate Heschel’s sense of sacred music, and that you will be moved, elevated, inspired and connected as individuals, as a community, with God in the center of that connection. Join me February 7th, … [Read more...]

Who in their right mind would want to host 140 teens at their congregation for the weekend? We would want to and we did it! This “we” is collective. Truly all of us made this Kallah, this weekend NFTY-SAR Winter Kallah, a success. With dozens of host families from Temple Emanu-El, countless helpers at mealtimes, and endless support from our families, Temple Emanu-El hosted an incredible weekend for NFTY-SAR (the Southern Area Region) that we should be very proud of. NFTY is the youth wing of the Union for Reform Judaism. And NFTY is unique because all events are driven by a partnership between teens and adults. In the case of Temple Emanu-El, Rabbi Rachael and I take a deep interest in the success and mentorship of our teens. No other synagogue in the region receives the amount of direct rabbinic interaction that our teens experience at Temple Emanu-El. Over the past two and a half years, we have seen a growth and popularity in TEFTY, Temple Emanu-El’s youth group that has not been … [Read more...]

This week’s Torah portion, Vayechi (Genesis 47:28-50:26), and this week’s haftarah portion from I Kings (2:1-12) tell of the death of two great patriarchs, Jacob and King David, respectively.  However, a closer look at both narratives reveal that they are also about hearing the ‘living will’ of each man from his deathbed.  Judaism truly elevates this act of relaying to one’s children and grandchildren, in person, the values that you hold highest, and your wishes for how they might conduct themselves in the years after you are gone. These past few days, and weeks, have been hard for many of our Temple Emanu-El congregants, with the passing of truly respected pillars of our community, including one of our past TE Presidents.  As a rabbi of our congregation, I sometimes have the honor of being with members of our congregation as they approach their final breath, and with their family through burial and shiva.  One of the conversations that is typically had is worrying … [Read more...]