Friday, May 17, 2019 /12 Iyar, 5779 Parashat Emor Leviticus 21:1-24:23 Dear Friends, Firstly, in my words, below, don’t get caught up in the details. Note the bigger message, however. Our Torah portion, Parashat Emor, commences with a possibly troubling, but surely anachronistic message, “The Eternal One said to Moses, speak to the priests, the […]
About Me Rabbi Cassi Kail RabbiCassi@gmail.com I was sixteen when I first heard the call to be a rabbi. I held onto my guitar as I stepped into my grandmother’s nursing home. Though her Alzheimer’s disease made it difficult for us to share meaningful conversations, I hoped that we could connect through the Jewish music […]
Friday, May 10, 2019 /5 Iyar, 5779 Parashat K’doshim Leviticus 19:1-20:27 Dear Friends, What is the difference between taking vengeance and bearing a grudge? The reason for the question is that our Torah, in its highest ethical code in Leviticus, the Holiness Code, gives this simple command, “You shall not take vengeance or bear a […]
Three Versions of Shabbat There is something unique about the way Parshat Emor speaks about Shabbat. It calls it a mo’ed and a mikra kodesh when, in the conventional sense of these words, it is neither. Mo’ed means an appointed time with a fixed date on the calendar. Mikra kodesh means either a sacred assembly, a time at which the […]
Friday, May 3, 2019 /28 Nisan, 5779 Parashat Aharei Mot II Leviticus 18:1-18:30 Dear Friends, It is not uncommon for a bride to wear her special wedding dress only once, and then to tuck it away in a box for decades, perhaps to be worn by a daughter or granddaughter, or not unlikely, to be […]
National Jewish Book Award Winner! The New York Times-bestselling author of A Fierce Radiance and City of Light returns with a new powerful and passionate novel—inspired by historical events—about two women, one European and one American, and the mysterious choral masterpiece by Johann Sebastian Bach that changes both their lives. In the ruins of Germany in 1945, at the end […]
Hearing Voices Eric Imley & Gale Swartz, Co-Presidents eimley@yahoo.com swartzplace@gmail.com While we’re not ready to make a detailed announcement quite yet, there has been a ‘Leadership Development” committee that has been working hard over the last several months. The purpose of this committee is obvious by the name, however, there are many different ways to look […]
Remember Sisterhood is in Action with You Reva Skoll, Sisterhood Co-President With our wonderful Sisterhood, in the month of April we had a fun-filled evening at the Comedy and Magic Club with about 30 folks, thanks to the hard work of Dina Dreizler and Allison Brandt. And to top it off, the Community Passover Seder chaired […]
