I, once again, feel I may be going into territory not as family friendly as this site is intended. If your sensibilities are easily offended (or if you think I really have gone "too far"), feel free to express yourself in comments. Some teachers have one liners that live on outside the classroom. One of my favorites by Rabbi B. of TABC was representing the outside world's view of Jewish customs. "You tie on leather straps ...
On Wednesday night, an Orthodox man boarded a United Airlines flight from JFK to San Francisco. Before the flight took off, he went to the back of plane to daven, probably Mincha (Maariv could have waited). The crew asked him to sit for takeoff, but since he was in the middle of the Amidah he couldn't interrupt. His friends ...
The new month of Adar has just begun and we are reminded by the rabbis that this is a time for rejoicing. As we prepare to celebrate this special time of joy, families in Demona, Israel will be grieving the loss of loved ones who were shopping in a mall when a suicide terrorist killed himself in order to injure and kill others. This is a small reminder of the thousands of Katushya Rockets that have fallen in Sderot and other municipalities in Israel. Another reminder are the children and adults who have died or been injured or driven from their homes that are in proximity of the Gaza Strip. Another reminder are the terrorist bombers who invaded the malls and market places in Israel. A reminder that pizza shops were not safe from these hate filled terrorists. A reminder that coffee houses were not safe for brides meeting their parents for coffee the night before their betrothal. A reminder that even shopping for a piece of fruit was an act of bravery because life was at risk in the marketplaces of Israel. So what are we to rejoice? Sixty years later the names have changed and boarders are different but the battle is the same. Early in the history of the modern State of Israel soldiers stood on battlefields with broom handles, pretending to have guns. Perhaps that is what we should rejoice: that our soldiers are well equipped with the best of weapons. Back in the War of Independence our armies were barely trained, but now we can rejoice that the young men and women we put in harm's way are the best trained army in the world. Truthfully, however, I doubt that Gilad Shalit's parents can rejoice by saying their son's training was the best in the world. They want Gilad home and then they will rejoice. ...
Do you ever wonder why we need a Synagogue or a Temple to serve G-d? I mean, He's everywhere, why focus our service of Him on a building? Sometimes I find myself cleaning my desk, and after a while I realize that I’m just trying to bring order to my life. It stands to reason that if I can act out, physically, issues that I ...
A couple of weeks ago, my elderly parents (both in their upper eighties) went to their Reform temple (they do not call it a synagogue) for Friday evening services. My parents are devoted and involved members of the Reform movement. My dad was President of the temple and my mother served on numerous committees, including Temple Services. They were, in healthier days, regular attendees of activities and religious services. Last Friday their Reform temple was offering "A unique Shabbat Experience - in a variety of flavors and forms!" My Mom explained to me that this was a new Friday night event that Reform temples all over the United States were adopting to improve attendance and attract members to their services. It even has a name. It is SYNAPLEX; Choices, Connections, Community. You know, like your friendly neighborhood CINAPLEX, where you get to choose which of a number of movies you can see. At SYNAPLEX, the temple experience, you get to choose how you want to bring in Shabbos. Here are the choices that my parents had: ...
Rabbi Capers Funnye leads his congregation at Beth Shalom Bnai Zaken in Chicago, Il, where his synagogue has been in existence since 1918. Except for a few members, almost all are African American or of Ethiopian descent. Rabbi Funnye is also a writer on JVoices.com. I am not sure how many of the people in the synagogue are actually Jewish ...
As the final hours before the opening of the "holiest day of the year" are upon us, I wonder the same thing I always do. Who the hell do any of us think we're kidding? A sincere day of introspection and change? Poppycock. Hanging in the balance between life and death? BS- you don't believe it and you know it. So what, in God's Name, is everybody doing on ...
I have noticed in the last few years that more and more people seem to be going to the mikvah on the days before Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. While this is a longstanding tradition, densely populated areas sometimes lack the mikvah space to accommodate their High Holiday traffic. And while we certainly wouldn't want to discourage anyone from indulging in their Days of Awe-inspiring dunk, there are a number ...
The time between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur (this week) is a time of intense prayer (tefilla) and repentance (teshuva). ...
As I was standing in shul one Elul morning, I heard the powerful sounds of a shofar blown with considerable demonstration of skill and not a little flair. Next to me, a young boy asked his father, “Why did that man blow the shofar so long?” His father replied, “He’s showing off.” This disturbed me greatly, and every year since I have thought more carefully about ...
