We are, in part, defined by the space around us.  Who we are not… what we are not…where we are not. In that space is often unarticulated possibility. Silence. Last night I returned from a private, three day silent retreat hosted at a Catholic monastery in Conyers.  The Monastery of the Holy Spirit is an active haven for Trappist monks, who vow to live a life of beautiful simplicity, much of which is done through silence.  For me, the Abbey provided a sparse but functional room, simple vegetarian food, and lots of space for venerated silence. I’ve spoken before about the qualities of silence, each type being different…and in each of those types of silence I can recognize subtleties of my own spiritual character. After all, it is the space between the piano notes that make the music sing, and it is the space around each letter in Torah that holds a world of potential. So too, the silence around each one of us. I would thank you, my beloved congregation, for … [Read more...]

The 9th of Av, which we commemorate this Saturday night, is a day of mourning. This is the day, tradition tells us, that the Babylonians destroyed the First Temple in Jerusalem and the Romans destroyed the Second Temple. While we lost a sacred space, the holiest place of our people, we Reform Jews mourn the even greater destruction of Jewish unity in the Land of Israel. Unity begins with love for our neighbor and ourselves. Two thousand years later, we still fight for that unity in Israel and America. Some days we make progress, and other days we take a step (or two) back. The Talmud teaches us that the Second Temple was destroyed because of the hatred that existed between human beings.[1] The Jewish people lost whatever unity existed and experienced enormous tragedy. We must restore and strive for the unity that comes with a greater understanding and love for each other. What unites all Jews is a shared text, the Tanakh (an acronym for Torah Neviim-Prophets, and … [Read more...]