Dear Members and Friends, As we count each day of the Omer from Passover to Shavuot, we are reminded of an essential (if not the most important) Jewish concept — learning to separate and set aside. We count 49 days from Passover to Shavuot, separating and setting aside each day. After all, that’s how God created the world — separating light and darkness, water from water, and six days from the seventh. So being godly is to [...]
by Jim Merritt, Special to Newsday The National Day of Prayer, observed on May 5, celebrates the principle of religious liberty here at home, and promotes religious freedoms around the world. This week’s clergy discuss ways of making the most of a prayerful day. The Rev. Christopher D. Hofer Rector, The Church of St. Jude, Wantagh As long as I can remember, I was taught to pray. Whether my prayer is through “adoration, praise, thanksgiving, [...]
The book we use on Seder night is called a Haggadah, which means “the telling,” but the most important message of Passover — freedom — is beyond words. Dear Members and Friends, Great news! The Jewish people are celebrating Passover again, for the 3,300th time (approximately). Same table, same matza, same bitter herbs, same togetherness. Sounds routine, doesn’t it? So why do we keep doing it — Jews and many of our non-Jewish friends? Well, maybe there [...]
A few weeks before my yearly pilgrimage to Israel, I learned that a few members of our congregation were planning to be in Italy, specifically in Sicily. So I decided to take a few days and meet up with them for dinner. We set the date for Thursday, March 17, in Palermo. I was looking forward to the dinner, but it was sandwiched between a sequence of events leading to it and back from it. [...]
Dear Members and Friends, Two months ago, I went to a football game — for the first time. Someone donated two tickets to the silent auction at our Journal Dinner-Dance, and my friend, Father Roy, won the tickets and invited me to join him. It was his first time as well. I had been to baseball games before, and even though the stadiums are shaped differently, here too, it was hard to ignore the [...]
Dear members and friends, As we experience the season of winter and snow and drift into occasional hibernation, let’s hope it won’t be too challenging this year. It is interesting that at this same time of hibernation, Jews are celebrating Tu Bishvat, the “birthday” of trees. Of all possible seasons, our tradition chooses to celebrate the regeneration of life in nature when it seems to be moribund. But that’s the beauty of it, according to [...]
Dear members and friends, Rabbi Gadi kindles the Hanukkah candles at the 10th anniversary celebration of Project Genesis. Even though I’m writing this message on the shortest day of the year, it doesn’t feel dark. Perhaps the reason is the presence of many lights, both physical and spiritual. As the lights of Hanukkah slowly disappeared, the lights of Christmas on many houses and in yards began to glow. On Saturday night, Dec. 12, we [...]
This year, I decided to participate in an ecumenical silent retreat in the mountains of Colorado, at St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass. Dear members and friends, Like many people these days, I am surrounded by various technological devices and screens that help with many aspects of our lives. Of course, they also compete for our attention, and if we’re not careful, they can distract us, sometimes to a point at which we’re never silent. [...]
Dear members and friends, While the American media has devoted a significant amount of air time to a premature discussion on who will be the next President of the United States, a political light year from now, other developments in the word have received scant notice. Having said that, it’s hard to ignore the recent events in Israel. As it is portrayed, the current conflict surrounds the Temple Mount: who has and who does [...]
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