Blog

Back, oh so many months ago, when live television shows were far more prevalent, I know that many of us watched with regularity one or more of the reality shows available for mindless entertainment. Anticipating and trying to guess who would get the rose, seeing how interior decorators could transform a house on a limited budget, marveling at the ways personal stylists could dramatically change a person’s appearance, salivating as chefs...Read more...

“During the Hurricane Harvey recovery, we were visiting with this beautiful older couple who had to be evacuated by boat. The wife was on dialysis, and her husband felt helpless as the house he had helped build flooded. Yet while we were sitting and speaking with them, they were smiling. I asked them how they stayed so positive. She said, ‘That storm can take my house, it can take my car, it can take my furniture and my pictures, but it...Read more...

If you’ve been able to join us for services, you might remember that I’ve been opening with a nigun I wrote in isolation, titled Resilience Nigun. Nigunim (plural) are the wordless melodies that we sing, as the music that separates what’s going on “out there” (meaning outside the sanctuary) to what’s going on “in here” (inside the sanctuary).

During these times we are exiled from our sanctuary, and are making...Read more...

Week 5, Days 29-35: May 6-12
Theme: Hope and Family

“Like the seaweed that clings to each other after each passing boat separates them, so too a family will come together with the passing of each crisis.” ~ Indonesian Proverb

On whom do we lean during difficult times? We can all imagine the people in our inner circle, the ones we call, “family.” Whether it is the family that is related to you, or the family you...Read more...

Some of you may know that running has been a huge part of my life since I was a little girl.

The New York City Marathon has always been my favorite day of the year. Growing up, I would “help” my dad train for the marathon as I sat in the running stroller and he pushed me back and forth over the Brooklyn Bridge. Many of you have heard the story of my engagement to Natan when he proposed at the end of the Paris Marathon. I even...Read more...

Week 3 Days 15-21: April 23-29
Theme: Hope, the Omer and Israel

The Omer marks the 50 days the Israelites traveled the desert from Egypt to Sinai. It also marks the wave offering of the Temple on the second day of Passover. What is the Omer and why do we count it? The Omer was an ancient Hebrew measure of grain. Biblical law forbade any use of the new barley crop until an omer was brought as an offering to the Temple in...Read more...

Week 2 Days 8-14: April 16-22
Theme: Hope and Community

"In every community, there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it.” These words by Marianne Williamson tell us that the work of our community can be in and of itself a source of hope. Sharing moments via Zoom or Facetime, sending care packages, making sure people who need help getting food get it; these...Read more...

During this time of pandemic, it seems we do a lot of counting; we are acutely aware of the days and weeks we are spending sheltered in place. However, we have an opportunity to turn to our Jewish tradition to transform our counting into a countdown of hope. The period of the Omer runs from Passover through the seven weeks leading up to Shavuout. Passover represents our freedom from slavery, Shavuout celebrates God giving us the Torah at...Read more...

Throughout the generations, “Jerusalem” has been the central theme of Jewish song and prayer. Most notably, in just a few days, we will read from the Passover Haggadah and sing “B’shanah Habaah, next year in Jerusalem.” As Jews, we live every day with a sense of nostalgia, a sense of yearning for Israel, our holy city, and our sacred sites. Living so far from Israel, our sanctuaries and chapels have become the center of...Read more...

This week begins a new book of Torah, Leviticus, or in Hebrew, Vayikra, meaning “God called out.” God calls to Moses to relay to the people the kinds of sacrifices they should be offering in the Tabernacle. There are five types of offerings mentioned, each of which can have meaning to us in these extraordinary times of pandemic:

Olah – an offering of ascension. Let us rise to meet the needs of family, community and humanity both...Read more...

It has been a groundbreaking and monumental week, and not in the way we would have liked. Six days have passed since last Shabbat...that day in which we settled into the idea of what COVID-19 might mean for our Temple Sinai family. And, well, somehow, we survived the week and even braced ourselves for more weeks to come. We have made it here. As each day passed, I found myself thanking God for things that I ordinarily would never even think...Read more...

As the evolving health situation now dictates further physical distancing with stricter limitations on gatherings recommended, please note the following important changes to ritual experiences that impact the Temple Sinai community:

All Shabbat Services (Friday night, Tot Shabbat, Shabbat morning) will be closed to the public and guests. We will livestream these worship opportunities on our website here.

Whether we go to an amazing concert, take in a magnificent vista or see the wonder in a child’s eyes, we can all think of an encounter that we would deem a spiritual experience. Often, we describe spiritual experiences as moving or inspirational. In addition to those descriptions, I would invite you to look at a spiritual experience as having an opportunity to take a glimpse of yourself, your light, your potential. To have a spiritual...Read more...

We are in the middle of a series of Torah portions that describe the construction and adornment of the Tabernacle, our portable temple used by the Israelites while making their way to the Promised Land. Many of the specifications still can be seen in a modern temple. In this week’s Torah portion in particular, we learn of the Eternal Light. What does it mean to be in the presence of light all the time? What does this important feature in...Read more...

The people of Israel are standing at Sinai. They are in an unknown desert that is slowly becoming their temporary home; they have been given manna and learned how to gather and eat it; they have found water to drink; they have fasted and prepared to come to the mountain to meet God. In last week’s Torah portion, in a flurry of awesome noise and light, God gave them the 10 Commandments.

Under these circumstances, the Israelites are...Read more...