Explore every episode of the podcast Wilshire POV
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| When Do You Stop Saying Shanah Tovah - Rabbi Hannah Elkin - October 25, 2024 | 25 Oct 2024 | 00:02:56 | |
When do you stop saying, “Shanah Tovah”? This is a question that clergy are commonly asked around this time of the Jewish year. 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. | |||
| "Blessing for a New Beginning" - Cantor Kerith Spencer-Shapiro | 04 Oct 2024 | 00:03:52 | |
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. | |||
| Cockeyed Optimist - Cantor Lisa Peicott | 28 Jun 2024 | 00:03:51 | |
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. | |||
| Silently Offering Blessing - Cantor Kerith Spencer-Shapiro | 14 Jun 2024 | 00:03:57 | |
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? 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. | |||
| Taking a Breath - Rabbi Hannah Elkin | 31 May 2024 | 00:03:39 | |
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. | |||
| Finding Strength and Purpose in the Wilderness - Rabbi Joel Nickerson | 26 Apr 2024 | 00:06:06 | |
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. | |||
| Bedikat Chametz - Rabbi Hannah Elkin | 12 Apr 2024 | 00:03:20 | |
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. | |||
| Light, Happiness, Joy and Love - Cantor Lisa Peicott | 22 Mar 2024 | 00:03:52 | |
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. | |||
| Pillars of Hope - Rabbi Joel Nickerson | 15 Mar 2024 | 00:05:45 | |
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. | |||
| A Letter to My Son - Rabbi Ben Naim | 08 Mar 2024 | 00:05:57 | |
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. | |||
| Resilience - Cantor Kerith Spencer-Shapiro | 01 Mar 2024 | 00:03:41 | |
Last night I had dinner with a woman visiting from Israel who represents the Jewish mindfulness organization Or HaLev. We spent a good amount of time talking about her experience, and her family, and how her practice of meditation has helped her garner resilience during such a terribly difficult time for her and her family. She then asked me what do Jewish leaders - rabbis and cantors, especially - need at this time from an organization like Or HaLev. And that led to a discussion about anti-semitism here in the 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. | |||
| Tetzaveh - Rabbi Hannah Elkin | 23 Feb 2024 | 00:03:56 | |
This week in the secular, entertainment calendar, we find ourselves right in the middle of the most holy season: award season. And of course award season includes endless red carpets and the striking fashion that comes along with it. As celebrities make their way down the red carpet, some looks will become iconic, some fine but unmemorable, and some declared to be the worst. In the Torah portion this week, the High Priest and his fabulous ensemble are not to be outdone. 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. | |||
| It Wasn't Supposed to End this Way - Rabbi Joel Nickerson | 06 Sep 2024 | 00:05:33 | |
It wasn’t supposed to end this way. He was supposed to come home. We saw her on TV, listened to her on podcasts, watched her and her husband, Jon, give speeches, and I even met with her this summer with a small group of us rabbis in Jerusalem. Rachel Goldberg-Polin inspired us with her strength, her faith, and her mantra, “Hope is mandatory.” She represented every Jewish mother, fighting to the bitter end for her son’s safe return. 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. | |||
| Gifts - Cantor Lisa Peicott | 16 Feb 2024 | 00:03:35 | |
‘“The Eternal spoke to Moses saying: Tell the Israelites that they should bring me an offering, from every person whose heart is willing, bring for me a gift” (Exodus 25:1-2). Grammatically, we must ask why it says a “gift,” which connotes raising up?’ This question brought me back to my 1st year biblical hebrew class, and the word used for an offering or gift, terumah. In that hebrew word are the root letters, resh and mem. These two letters can form words that mean to lift up, raise up, or make higher, and so on. The idea that when we give a gift, that we are elevated to a higher place. That we become closer to God, or to holiness itself. 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. | |||
| As a Sign of Mind and Strength - Rabbi Joel Nickerson | 19 Jan 2024 | 00:03:34 | |
I received a text earlier this week from a congregant who sent me a picture of himself buying his first pair of tefillin. The picture was accompanied by the caption, “How my mornings start now.” To be honest, this is not someone I would have ever expected to wrap tefillin 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. | |||
| Why did God harden Pharaoh’s heart? Rabbi Hannah Elkin | 12 Jan 2024 | 00:04:02 | |
It is always a good day when a child takes the words right out of a rabbi’s mouth. Last Sunday afternoon at religious school at the Resnick campus, I shared the story of this week’s Torah portion (as the Torah portion each week runs from Sunday-Saturday) with the Kindergarten-2nd Grade students. As I began the story of Moses confronting Pharaoh to let the Israelites out of slavery and into freedom, I told them that I had a question for them at the end, so they needed to listen very closely. We listed off each of the Ten Plagues together, which were brought on both by Pharaoh’s stubbornness and then God’s own part in hardening Pharaoh’s heart. I was just about to ask the big question that I had prepared them for when a little voice piped up. “Wait, why did God harden Pharaoh’s heart? Why would God do that?” My question exactly, I said. 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. | |||
| Parashat Vayeitzei - Rabbi Hannah Elkin | 24 Nov 2023 | 00:04:07 | |
This year, the opening and closing of the parashah Vayeitzei provide another unique view into our modern circumstances. 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. | |||
| You Tell the Truth, and Focus on Hope - Rabbi Joel Nickerson | 17 Nov 2023 | 00:09:26 | |
This week, Rabbi Joel Nickerson was invited to speak to the student body at St. James Episcopal School, a K-6 school in Koreatown. How do you share what the Jewish community is experiencing right now with a predominantly non-Jewish audience and in a way that is age-appropriate for Kindergarten through 6th-grade students? 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. | |||
| A Mother's Love - Cantor Lisa Peicott | 10 Nov 2023 | 00:04:31 | |
This week’s torah portion, Chayei Sarah, directly follows the episode of the “Akeida”, where God orders Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac. Throughout the centuries, there have been countless studies devoted to the incomprehensible dedication shown by Abraham in his willingness to follow through on God’s command. We’re astonished that Abraham could put aside the compassion he obviously felt for his son and resignedly carry out the dreadful task he had been dealt. 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. | |||
| Maslov and Sukkot - Rabbi Hannah Elkin | 29 Sep 2023 | 00:04:37 | |
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. | |||
| The First Fruit of the Season - Rabbi Hannah Elkin | 01 Sep 2023 | 00:03:43 | |
Our Torah portion this week, Ki Tavo, includes an important mitzvah for tending to these fruits and crops. As Deut. 26 teaches, when the bikkurim, the first fruits of the season, appear in your fields, you must gather them up and bring them to the priests as an offering to God. We cannot eat them ourselves. It is a curious offering, however, because the first produce of the crop is often not the best. 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. | |||
| Mitzvah: Something Deeper - Cantor Lisa Peicott | 25 Aug 2023 | 00:03:46 | |
Just before the start of Summer, my husband and I experienced a right of passage for any Jewish parent. We witnessed our oldest son be “Shabbat Boy,” at Wilshire Boulevard Temple’s Early Childhood Center. 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. | |||
| The Israeli Crisis - Rabbi Joel Nickerson | 28 Jul 2023 | 00:05:40 | |
The images coming out of Israel earlier this week seemed to offer a different, more somber version of the gathering I had attended. On Monday, the government’s coalition in the Knesset approved a provision that removed the Supreme Court’s authority to determine if a government decision is ‘reasonable’, popularly known as the ‘reasonableness clause.’ Most Israelis saw this clause as an important element of checks and balances to ensure government coalitions didn’t make decisions that unreasonably preferenced certain groups or minimized the role of others. While most agree that elements of the Israeli judicial system could benefit from some ‘reforms’, the months of protests seem to represent an awakening among Israelis that the government’s strategies for implementing such reforms don’t align with most Israelis’ understanding of how Israel’s democracy should operate. 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. | |||
| A Blessing, a Privilege, and a Sacred Responsibility - Rabbi Joel Nickerson | 30 Aug 2024 | 00:04:16 | |
Right now, we are in the final book of the Torah, Deuteronomy, as Moses prepares the Israelites to enter the Promised Land. He outlines the values, priorities, and pitfalls they will face as they settle in this new land. This week’s portion, Re’eh, begins with Moses presenting the Israelites with two choices - “See, this day I set before you blessing and curse…”(Deut. 11:26). The Israelites can either build upon the solid foundation provided to them by the Torah and their predecessors, and be blessed, OR they can forget their past, forget their values, and be cursed. 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. | |||
| In the Trenches - Cantor Lisa Peicott | 14 Jul 2023 | 00:02:52 | |
As many of you know, I am the mother of Joey (3.5) and Ezra (1). Joe and I are deep in what social media refers to as “the trenches” of parenthood. Sleepless nights, potty training, diapers, first steps, baby proofing, and of course epic toddler meltdowns are part of our daily routine, as our personal lives are spent in sheer survival mode. I know many of you have been there, but after a long day of survival mode, I often have to stop and remind myself that this wonderful, albeit challenging season of my life (ages 0-4), is short – A mere pitstop in the roadmap of my parenting life. In this week’s double Torah portion, Matot Massei, we have arrived at the last chapter of B’midbar. The Israelites are located on the edge of the Jordan River, about to cross into the land of Israel, and we are given a long and very detailed travel itinerary of their decades spent wandering in the desert. 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. | |||
| Giver or Taker - Cantor Lisa Peicott | 23 Jun 2023 | 00:03:22 | |
In this week’s Torah portion, a “man of repute,” by the name of Korach, and his 250 followers rebel against Moses, and his brother Aaron. 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. | |||
| You Can Do It - Rabbi Elissa Bein-Naim | 16 Jun 2023 | 00:02:29 | |
The Israelites were flipping out. Freedom and having faith in God was not going so well. The Israelites are whining. A lot. 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. | |||
| The Circle Maker - Rabbi Susan Nanus | 02 Jun 2023 | 00:08:19 | |
One of the most profound stories in the Talmud is about a man called Honi the Circle Maker. One day, Honi is walking down the street when he meets an old man who is planting a carob tree. Honi asks the man how long the tree will take to bear fruit. “Seventy years,” answers the old fellow. Mocking him, Honi asks why he would plant a tree that he might never eat from. “I was born into a world with carob trees,” the man replies,” and just as my ancestors planted trees for me, so too will I plant them for my children and their children after them.” Soon after, Honi eats a meal and falls asleep for decades. Upon awaking, Honi sees a different man gathering fruit from a fully-grown carob tree. “Did you plant that tree, he asks. “No,” answers the man, “it was my grandfather.” At that moment, Honi realizes he’d been asleep for 70 years. 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. | |||
| From Fear and Uncertainty to Relentless Hope and Persistence - Rabbi Joel Nickerson | 12 May 2023 | 00:01:26 | |
My Shabbat message was going to focus on Mother’s Day. I wanted to explore the tragic tale of the holiday’s founder, Anna M. Jarvis, and the lessons we can learn from her story. I wanted to discuss the central Jewish value of honoring parents and our ancestral mothers’ influence on the Jewish concept of ‘home’. But then the news started coming out of Israel about airstrikes and air raid sirens, and my thoughts and energy turned to the mothers and families who have huddled in shelters for the past several days. 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. | |||
| Are We Holy? Rabbi Elissa-Ben Naim | 28 Apr 2023 | 00:05:16 | |
This week gives us a double dose of Torah portions as we read Acharei-Mot and Kedoshim. If we read the titles in a certain way it poses a probing question. Acharei-Mot? Kedoshim? “After death? Are we holy?” or “How can we know that when our lives are over, where we are after death that holiness remains?” 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. | |||
| Hearing the Stories of Persian Jews - Rabbi Susan Nanus | 21 Apr 2023 | 00:07:25 | |
The first time I really heard about the suffering of Persian Jews -- not just in snippets, but in detail - was last week. This past Sunday, I cohosted an event with Sinai Temple to hear Dora Levy Mossanen, a Persian Jewish author, talk about her latest book, which took place in the Jewish Quarter of Teheran in the 1940’s. 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. | |||
| Divine Qualities - Cantor Lisa Peicott | 14 Apr 2023 | 00:04:09 | |
Forget about social media declarations – #NewYearNewMe, or grandiose goals of weight loss, self-care, or book clubs, because our tradition spells it all out for us. All of the different ways that we can try to be our best self; the new and improved version of who we were during Pesach, and all YOU have to do is count the Omer. 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. | |||
| More than just Passover: The Symbols of the Seder Plate - Rabbi Joel Nickerson | 31 Mar 2023 | 00:08:10 | |
At the center of the Passover seder experience sits a plate. It is used only once during the year, and it is adorned with foods that symbolize the central themes associated with the holiday. The word for seder plate in Hebrew is 'ka'arah' and within the ancient rabbinic mindset, that word connected the seder plate to more than just Passover - it was a representation of the entire world. The plate laid out symbols of opportunity and challenge, of hope and despair; of curses and blessings. If the seder plate is supposed to resemble elements of our world, then it's important that we spend some time re-evaluating the symbolism behind each element on the plate, making sure that they correspond with issues or concepts that resonate with our lives today. In that spirit, the following are my personal interpretations (at least, for this year) of the symbols on the seder plate, as well as guiding questions that you may choose to use at your own seder. 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. | |||
| Broken Pieces Make Us Who We Are - Rabbi Beau Shapiro | 17 Mar 2023 | 00:05:30 | |
"My technologically challenged mother got a new iPhone this week and I was her first call. 'What should I do with my old one?' she asked, which got me thinking, said Rabbi Beau Shapiro. 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. | |||
| Nachamu - Shabbat of Comfort - Cantor Lisa Peicott | 19 Aug 2024 | 00:02:25 | |
Nachamu, Nachamu ami, yomar eloheichem Comfort, Comfort my people, says God… Tonight begins Shabbat Nachamu, the Shabbat of Comfort, named after the first few words of the Haftarah portion this week: Isaiah 40:1-26. Shabbat Nachamu directly follows the somber commemoration of Tisha B’Av (9th of Av), a day of mourning for the Jewish people, as we recall the destruction of the first and second temple, and immerse ourselves in the extent of human suffering in our world, which in the last ten months, have seemed rather endless….But tonight we take a deep breath and we attempt to let go of our sorrow and our pain. 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. | |||
| Hidden Meaning - Rabbi Susan Nanus | 03 Mar 2023 | 00:08:00 | |
I have a confession to make. Until recently, I was never a big fan of Queen Esther. For me, she always paled in comparison to a lot of other Biblical heroines that I admire. 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. | |||
| In Potentia - Cantor Lisa Peicott | 24 Feb 2023 | 00:04:43 | |
This week’s parashah, Terumah, teaches us the importance and purpose of building the mishkan, the portable tabernacle/sanctuary that the Israelites carried through the desert, as well as the many detailed instructions on how to build it. 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. | |||
| How Is This Our World - Rabbi Elissa Ben-Naim | 17 Feb 2023 | 00:03:40 | |
Rabbi Elissa Ben-Naim considers a particularly troubling week and the wisdom and perspective she gained from her Grade 6 students. 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. | |||
| Hello My Name Is... - Cantor Lisa Peicott | 13 Jan 2023 | 00:03:07 | |
In this week's Shabbat message, Cantor Peicott discusses the significance of names and how our name is held in the very soul of who we are as a person. 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. | |||
| Bless Your Children - Rabbi Elissa Ben-Naim | 06 Jan 2023 | 00:02:53 | |
Dichotomy. The portion this week is called “and he lived”; yet, this portion is the long scene of how Jacob dies completely lucid, with intention, and surrounded by his family. Perhaps there is no dichotomy really at all- the way that we see Jacob die is how he sets up his legacy with intention and the loving care of a parent who has seen and experienced the fullest range of life’s trials and tribulations. 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. | |||
| Enough is Enough - Rabbi Joel Nickerson | 30 Dec 2022 | 00:03:38 | |
Enough is enough. That is the phrase stuck in my mind as I reflect on the year 2022. When I consider why, it is because I approach the phrase from two perspectives. 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. | |||
| It's All About the Light - Cantor Don Gurney | 23 Dec 2022 | 00:03:25 | |
It’s all about the Light. 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. | |||
| Rabbi Beau Shapiro: The Real Miracle of Chanukah | 16 Dec 2022 | 00:05:14 | |
This is the real miracle of Chanukah. It’s not about the mythic story that a small bit of oil lasted for eight days. The miracle of Chanukah is the immutable, unbreakable, Jewish spirit that always finds a way, not to simply survive, but to thrive, and to bring a little light into even the darkest of places. 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. | |||
| Rabbi Joel Nickerson: Our Best Black Friday Deal! | 25 Nov 2022 | 00:04:49 | |
There is no way to ignore the violence we’ve witnessed this past week in the United States and in Israel. It’s all terrible and tragic. But amidst all of it, I’ve also had meaningful conversations with people who have reconnected to our Jewish tradition, some of whom decided to join our tribe through conversion, and those who are beginning to explore the possibility of joining our Jewish family. They all shared beautiful sentiments about the elements of our tradition that uplift and energize them. 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. | |||
| Cantor Lisa Peicott: Thank You for Your Service | 11 Nov 2022 | 00:05:30 | |
Veterans Day 2022 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. | |||
| Choices - Rabbi Hannah Elkin | 09 Aug 2024 | 00:03:37 | |
In this week's Shabbat message Rabbi Hannah Elkin comments on the theme of Teshuvah in this week's portion Devarim, in the world today, and in our personal lives. 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. | |||
| Rabbi Ben Naim: Words are Power: Silence is Deadly | 28 Oct 2022 | 00:06:39 | |
"Now is the time in our lives in our time to use speech to make a difference, to make a change," writes Rabbi Elissa Ben-Naim. 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. | |||
| Rabbi Steve Leder: Just as you judged me favorably, so may God judge you favorably | 23 Sep 2022 | 00:05:02 | |
“Just as you judged me favorably, so may God Judge you favorably.”– Chasidic Blessing 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. | |||
| Rabbi Beau Shapiro: To Wander or To Destroy | 16 Sep 2022 | 00:03:16 | |
Pioneers or victims? Rabbi Beau Shapiro asks an interesting question. 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. | |||
| Rabbi Susan Nanus: What Have I Done? What Have I Become? | 02 Sep 2022 | 00:06:43 | |
Rabbi Jonah of Gerona said, "One must ask oneself, "What have I done? What have I become?" Though there are no holidays during Elul, every day is a holy day during which we have an opportunity to review our life choices during the past year, reflect on how we behaved, how we treated others, and honestly assess whether or not we fulfilled our mandate and obligation as Jews – to perform good deeds and bring light into the world. 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. | |||