Friday, September 11, 2020 /22 Elul, 5780 Parashat Nitzavim/Vayeileh Deuteronomy 29:9–31:30 Dear Friends, This morning Elul Reflections came to an end. I’m sorry to see it go. For the past 29 days, we have listened to moving stories and recollections. We have seen phenomenal artwork and heard original music. We have received reflections on forgiveness, […]
Friday, September 11, 2020 /22 Elul, 5780 Parashat Nitzavim/Vayeileh Deuteronomy 29:9–31:30 Dear Friends, For the past three weeks, we have been blessed to hear so many powerful remarks from temple members, as part of the Elul reflection project. Up until Rosh Hashanah, I invite you to join the community on Facebook live or YouTube at […]
How to Renew a Nation The Talmud gives an ingenious reading to the line, “Moses commanded us a Torah, as a heritage of the congregation of Israel.” Noting that there are 613 commands, and that the numerical value of the word Torah is 611, it says that in fact Moses gave us 611 commands, while […]
Friday, September 4, 2020 /15 Elul, 5780 Parashat Ki Tavo Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8 Dear Friends, The month of Elul, leading up to Rosh Hashanah, is a time for sacred connection. As you may know, Elul is an acronym for the words Ani L’dodi v’dodi li. These words, which mean “I am my beloved’s and my beloved […]
Burning questions There is a special b’nai mitzvah tradition at Temple Beth El. Each student can ask me any question of their choosing on the big day, and I will do my best to begin a conversation around it. This past month we celebrated two wonderful b’not mitzvah. One was Sadie Lieb; the other was […]
Burning questions There is a special b’nai mitzvah tradition at Temple Beth El. Each student can ask me any question of their choosing on the big day, and I will do my best to begin a conversation around it. This past month we celebrated two wonderful b’not mitzvah. One was Sadie Lieb; the other was […]
Sefer HaChayim – The Book of Life Cantor Ilan Davidson cantor@bethelsp.org Each year, as we navigate our way through the liturgy of the High Holy Days, I am often asked about different troubling texts in our prayers. Texts like Unetane Tokef, speaking of who shall live and who shall die, or Avinu Malkeinu, referring to […]
