Wilshire POV – Details, episodes & analysis

When do you stop saying, “Shanah Tovah”? This is a question that clergy are commonly asked around this time of the Jewish year. 

Rabbi Hannah Elkin answers the question and offers an inspiring interpretation.

Each week, a member of the clergy offers their personal perspective on a topic of their choice, such as the week's Torah portion, a Jewish holiday, ritual, custom, or history.

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Each week, a member of the clergy offers their personal perspective on a topic of their choice, such as the week's Torah portion, a Jewish holiday, ritual, custom, or history.

Facebook: Wilshire Boulevard Temple
Website: wbtla.org
Youtube: Wilshire Boulevard Temple
Instagram: wilshireboulevardtemple

One of the first pieces of music I ever learned was from the musical “South Pacific.” For those of you who may not be so up to date on your American musical knowledge, I will summarize. The plot centers on an American nurse, Nellie Forbush, stationed in the South Pacific during World War II. Nellie falls in love with a middle-aged expatriate French plantation owner, but struggles to accept his mixed-race children. Now place all of this racial tension on an unnamed island in the South Pacific, during the raging battles of World War II, and you have a 10-time Tony award-winning musical, but I digress…

Each week, a member of the clergy offers their personal perspective on a topic of their choice, such as the week's Torah portion, a Jewish holiday, ritual, custom, or history.

Facebook: Wilshire Boulevard Temple
Website: wbtla.org
Youtube: Wilshire Boulevard Temple
Instagram: wilshireboulevardtemple

I just returned from a week-long silent Jewish mindfulness meditation retreat. Yes, you read that correctly - Jewish and silent. So, what do 50-some Jews ranging in age from their early 20’s through their 70s do when we come together in silence?

One of our practices was to engage in a blessing practice. I’ve often wondered why we aren’t also known as the people of blessing along with being called people of the book. We Jews have a blessing for everything. Every moment in life is seen as significant and worthy enough to take a moment, take a breath, slow down, bless, and only then engage in the activity. 

Each week, a member of the clergy offers their personal perspective on a topic of their choice, such as the week's Torah portion, a Jewish holiday, ritual, custom, or history.

Facebook: Wilshire Boulevard Temple
Website: wbtla.org
Youtube: Wilshire Boulevard Temple
Instagram: wilshireboulevardtemple

Despite the continued presence of “May Gray” in the mornings, summer is undeniably on its way. And as the weather warms, I’ve been reminded of a game that my cousins and I used to play in the summers growing up. Swimming in the pool, we would each take turns holding our breath and seeing how far we could swim underwater on that single breath. One by one we would swim as far as we could, and then stand in place to mark our distance. I always wanted to go last, because I found it easiest to know just how far I had to go to win. I remember straining and struggling to swim as my oxygen levels dipped, thinking to myself, “I just need to get there, just a few more strokes to get to the end, and then I can breathe!” Perhaps you played this game as well.

Each week, a member of the clergy offers their personal perspective on a topic of their choice, such as the week's Torah portion, a Jewish holiday, ritual, custom, or history.

Facebook: Wilshire Boulevard Temple
Website: wbtla.org
Youtube: Wilshire Boulevard Temple
Instagram: wilshireboulevardtemple

This year, as we make our way through Passover, it feels as though we are in our own wilderness. We may feel secluded, without a real sense of direction, almost shell-shocked, as we view images and videos of these terrible campus protests, complete with anti-Israel sentiment, overt antisemitism, and a brewing storm of frustration, chaos, and anger.

Each week, a member of the clergy offers their personal perspective on a topic of their choice, such as the week's Torah portion, a Jewish holiday, ritual, custom, or history.

Facebook: Wilshire Boulevard Temple
Website: wbtla.org
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Each year, we perform bedikat chametz, searching and cleansing the house of bread products, as the first ritual of Passover. We go around to each shelf of the pantry, the refrigerator and freezer, and scrape away the crust that has built up over the last year to start fresh. This ritual acts as a spiritual cleansing as well, and it gives us concrete baby steps in this season of freedom: before we can liberate the world, we start by liberating our kitchens. 

Each week, a member of the clergy offers their personal perspective on a topic of their choice, such as the week's Torah portion, a Jewish holiday, ritual, custom, or history.

Facebook: Wilshire Boulevard Temple
Website: wbtla.org
Youtube: Wilshire Boulevard Temple
Instagram: wilshireboulevardtemple

The Story of Esther, with all of its twists and turns,  knows this painful truth about life, and I believe our tradition gives us the keys to navigating the darkness around us. 

Each week, a member of the clergy offers their personal perspective on a topic of their choice, such as the week's Torah portion, a Jewish holiday, ritual, custom, or history.

Facebook: Wilshire Boulevard Temple
Website: wbtla.org
Youtube: Wilshire Boulevard Temple
Instagram: wilshireboulevardtemple

A pillar of hope and a dark cloud frame Rabbi Joel Nickerson's Shabbat Message this week. 

Each week, a member of the clergy offers their personal perspective on a topic of their choice, such as the week's Torah portion, a Jewish holiday, ritual, custom, or history.

Facebook: Wilshire Boulevard Temple
Website: wbtla.org
Youtube: Wilshire Boulevard Temple
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I was delighted to lead a micro-mission to Israel with 4 of our congregants. The trip was designed to coincide with the ceremony in which my 21 year old son completed basic training and received his red paratrooper’s beret from the IDF. With the many twists and turns of the ongoing war with Hamas, the ceremony was delayed by a week. The volunteering and solidarity mission healed small cracked fissures and filled my heart. So much so that I boarded the plane home on Monday knowing my son would be sufficiently supported with his brother Yoni by his side representing our family. I sent him this letter and he was fine that I share it with you.

Each week, a member of the clergy offers their personal perspective on a topic of their choice, such as the week's Torah portion, a Jewish holiday, ritual, custom, or history.

Facebook: Wilshire Boulevard Temple
Website: wbtla.org
Youtube: Wilshire Boulevard Temple
Instagram: wilshireboulevardtemple