- Shabbat Bereshit 5781
Dear Friends,
For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, we have a Shabbat morning simhah–the B’not-Mitzvah of Chase and Etana Keppel. We are excited to have a celebration in shul, and I’m excited that the young women are reading and teaching Torah!
Since they are teaching, and I’m delivering a charge to them after their haftarah, I’ll ...
- Shabbat Shemini Atzeret 5781
Dear Friends,
As we enter the final days of the Tishrei holy days, I want to affirm what we’re missing, and appreciate what we still have.
True, we will not have a full sanctuary for Hallel, Yizkor, and Geshem on Shabbat morning, and we will not chant our chapter of Kohelet in the interest of time. Indeed, ...
- Shabbat Sukkot 5781
Dear Friends,
For months now, we have been aching to get out more. Sheltering at home is premised on the idea that our homes protect us from all the elements, especially the virus. Well, this week gives us ample opportunity to step out of that shelter into another, but more flimsy, form of home. The festival ...
- Shabbat Ha-azinu/Shuvah 5781
Dear Friends,
A New Year means new opportunities for us at HHBJC. Last Shabbat was Rosh Hashanah, and it was the first time that we had a minyan in the synagogue with an option to connect via technology on a day that is kodesh, sacred. This Shabbat will be our first foray into a streamed “regular” Shabbat, ...
- Shabbat Nitzavim/Vayelekh 5780
Dear Friends,
As I taught at our online davening this morning, the rabbis were terrified that Torah would be forgotten. Some were resigned to this eventuality, but Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai refused to accept such pessimism. He found evidence in this week’s second portion, Vayelekh: “this poem…will never be lost from the mouth of their offspring” (Deuteronomy 31:21). ...
