Tonight Israel will write a new chapter in human history. At 8:45pm EST SpaceIL, a privately funded Israeli space exploration company will launch Beresheet, an lunar lander aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. To date, only three countries have ever landed on the moon: the United States, Russia, and China. Forty days from now, Israel will be the fourth country, in human history, to land on the moon. Forty days can pass in the blink of an eye or it can feel like an eternity. For our ancestors wandering in the desert, forty days was enough time to lose faith in God, build a golden calf, and worship a foreign idol. This week’s parasha is Ki Tisa, the parasha in which Moses tells the Israelites that he’ll return in forty days, but he ends up delaying a bit. Forty days of waiting at the foot of Mt. Sinai led the Israelites to throw their hands in the sky and turn to their other leader, Aaron, Moses’ brother, for a new path to follow. Over the next forty days, our … [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...]
MEMORIAL DAY SALE! JULY 4TH SPECIAL FINANCING!
These are exactly the headlines that we do not see in Israel for the two holiest days of the secular year. Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day, and Yom HaAtzmeut, Israel’s Independence Day, are not shopping holidays. In a country in which nearly all its citizens know the feeling of losing a loved one to terror or defense of the State, Israelis observe their Memorial Day with reverence and honor for the dead. In a young democracy, many of Israel’s inhabitants can still recall a time when Israel was a dream, only to wake up one morning to experience the dream fulfilled. These sacred civil holidays are treated as days when we break from the mundane and honor the unique place in time in which we exist—a time in which Jews are able to call their ancient land home once more. As Jews, we know all too well what it means to mix sorrow with joy. We experience it at the Pesach seder, when we celebrate Purim, and when we gather for Yom Kippur. In Israel, the whiplash change from memorial to … [Read more...]
“Rabbi Max, how do I begin to talk about Israel?”
Parents who so adeptly speak to their children about drug abuse, sexual consent, or gun violence, sometimes fail to find the words to speak about Israel. Even if we have the words, we often rely on stock phrases like, “Well, it’s complicated.” Yes, Israel is complicated, but that does not mean it’s incomprehensible to an adult or a child. What we must do is talk. We will start from what we feel or what we know, and then we will build. We will talk about what we yearn for, and then, perhaps, we will discover what we, as our bravest selves, would do. There are no short answers or fact-sheets to hand out that could answer all of our questions (but they could answer some, and I do have fact-sheets if you have a quick question); rather, there is only an evolving dialogue which brings us to greater depths (or heights) of understanding. Israel is an existential part of what it means to be Jewish in the 21st century, but it is not an either/or proposition. Whether we are speaking about … [Read more...]
AIPAC Policy Conference 2018
March 4–6, 2018 Join your clergy and 18,000 of your closest friends in Washington D.C. for an incredible opportunity. Meet Israeli and American leaders who work daily to strengthen the Israeli-American relationship. Topics at Policy Conference range from Israeli culture to religious pluralism to the latest in Israeli security. Experience democracy in action as Georgians from across the state and religious communities gather to lobby the Georgia members of the House and Senate. Register now! … [Read more...]
