Temple Emanu-El of Atlanta

Member Supported-Future Driven

  • My EmanuEl
  • Kesher Quick
  • TE Atlanta Calendar
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • About Us
    • We are…
    • Meet Our Clergy
      • Senior Rabbi Spike Anderson
      • Rabbi Rachael Klein Miller
      • Rabbi Max Miller
      • Rabbi Emeritus Scott Colbert
      • Rabbi Emeritus Stanley Davids
    • Meet Our Staff
    • Meet Our Leadership
    • Temple Emanu-El Calendar
    • Temple Emanu-El In the News
    • Contact Us
  • Belong
    • Membership
    • My Emanu-El
    • TEams and Committees
    • Inclusion Awareness
    • Friendship/Chavurah Program
    • Interfaith Families
    • NextDor 20s and 30s
    • Sisterhood
    • Brotherhood
  • Pray
    • Shabbat Services
    • High Holy Days 5783
    • Jewish Holidays
    • Tot Shabbat & Kid-ish
    • Rabbis’ Sermons
  • Learn
    • Diamond Family Religious School
      • About Our School
      • Meet Our Teachers
      • Our Curriculum
      • Diamond Family Religious School Pre-Kindergarten Program
      • Registration and Forms
      • Hebrew Skills
      • School Calendar
      • School Blog
    • Life Long Learning 5783
    • The MJCCA Schiff Preschool
    • Your Jewish Journey
    • Living History
  • Celebrate
    • Bar/Bat Mitzvah
    • Adult B’nei Mitzvah
    • Baby Naming & Brit Milah
    • Weddings
    • Becoming Jewish
    • Confirmation
    • Space Rental
    • L’Dor V’Dor Spring Forward Fundraiser 2022
  • Tikkun Olam
    • Social Justice
      • Antisemitism
      • Hunger
      • Interfaith and Race Relations
      • Women and Children
      • Immigration Issues
      • Education
      • Environment
    • Israel and Peoplehood
  • Empower Youth
    • Youth Groups
      • TEFTY Youth Group
    • College Outreach
    • Jewish Summer Camps and Youth Resources
    • Youth Connectors
    • Schiffer Teen Israel Trip
    • Scholarships
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Endowment Fund
    • Life and Legacy
  • Remember
    • Funerals & Memorials
    • Grief
    • Yizkor Service
    • Talking to Kids About Death
    • Holocaust Remembrance
  • Live Stream

“My Brother’s Keeper?”

September 5, 2019 by Rabbi Spike Anderson

Marita and I recently took a 36 hour mission to the Arizona-Mexico border to see ‘the immigration issue’ with our own eyes.

We privately toured with the U.S. Border Patrol, visited with families as they were released from Detention Centers, and spent time in a Detention Center hearing stories that I will never forget.

We traveled to Arizona at our own expense because we felt a raw need to know…beyond what the various news coverage might tell us.  We were compelled to witness because issues of immigration are a real-time juxtaposition of ethics, politics, and Jewish values with very real consequences to our identity, and of our collective soul.

One of the most famous lines from Torah is spoken by Cain to God after fratricide.  God asks Cain about his (dead) brother Abel, to which Cain famously retorts, “Am I my brother’s keeper”” (Genesis 4:9)

From this, our sages pose the questions of who are our brothers and sisters, and who is not?  Can we ‘keep’ everyone like a brother and sister, or are there limits to what we are able to effectively do?

Tomorrow night at Shabbat services we will be exploring these Jewish questions as they relate to ‘the immigration issue’, as well as various Jewish perspectives on what is a hugely complex problem for our modern society.

We have dubbed these next three Friday nights leading into the High Holidays as Perspective Member Shabbat Services, so please take a moment to invite a friend to join you in our Sanctuary.  We all know that the future well-being of Temple Emanu-El depends on bringing more folks to the Torah that emanates from this holy place.

Shabbat Shalom to you and to your family.

May this Shabbat be one of intention, reflection, and peace for you all.

Shabbat shalom

Sept. 6 Prospective Member Shabbat-Register HERE

Sept. 13 Prospective Member Shabbat - Register HERE

Sept. 20 Prospective Member Shabbat - Register HERE

Rabbi-Spike-Anderson1Cropped-01

Filed Under: kesherquick

Visit Us

Temple Emanu-El
1580 Spalding Drive
Atlanta, GA 30350

Union for Reform Judasim

Union for Reform Judasim

Contact Us

(770) 395-1340

Diamond Family Religious School

Diamond Family Religious School

MJCCA The Schiff School

MJCCA The Schiff School
  • TE Israel Trip Summer 2022
  • My Emanu-El
  • Kesher Quick
  • Calendar
Copyright © 2023 Temple Emanu-El
Scroll Up