Members of the Tikkun Olam Initiative pitched in to help CAST pack 75 Thanksgiving baskets containing whole chickens, which were purchased by the TOI, plus veggies and potatoes that will provide a feast for the charity’s clients. Also on the agenda for the TOI is the Toys for Kids project, kicking off this month. The group has positioned a barrel at the shul’s office door to collect toys so that CAST families in need can [...]
This month’s Oculus feature was inspired by Rabbi Gadi’s tour of the Magdala archaeological site in Israel, arranged by the rabbi as part of a Kristallnacht remembrance program and offered live on Zoom from the site. The photo and history were submitted to The Shofar by Saul Rosenstreich and Judith K. Weiner, members of the shul’s Judaism and Art group. The Magdala Stone is a carved block unearthed by archaeologists from a synagogue in [...]
Last Friday, I returned from Israel with a small group of our congregants. During the trip, we took our time strolling throughout the land. It was a beautiful and intimate experience I am still savoring. Those who travel to Israel for the first time often are surprised to discover how hustling and bustling it is. Serious yet buoyant. The Biblical land is hidden under many layers of highways and new high-rise buildings popping up everywhere. [...]
Look around today. We ponder the parameters of crazy. We watch Twitter teeter, and Nancy Pelosi step aside. At the same time we consider control of the Senate, coupled with a razor-thin majority in the House. And then in the midst of all that come terrorism warnings from the FBI to synagogues in New Jersey and New York. And so it goes. The future looks like the past, and our historical memory helps us define [...]
Images of 75 Holocaust Survivors Mark the 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz “Survivors: Faces of Life After the Holocaust” by renown portrait photographer Martin Schoeller is on view at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York through June 2023. The exhibit, a compelling and evocative installation of large images in a hexagonal configuration, presents a powerful message of shared human experience. The exhibit, organized by Schoeller and Yad Vashem, capitalizes on [...]
Have you noticed that everything is moving faster these days…? A year feels like a month, a month like a week, and a week is a day. It was wonderful seeing everybody on the High Holidays. It was my 11th year celebrating with Congregation Tifereth Israel, but it felt as though we were there just a month ago. On Yom Kippur this year, I was bestowing a blessing I called “May you Fast Forward!” — to [...]
As the High Holidays end and the experiences of davening in shul on the holiest of days remain with us, I think we are all more acutely aware of who we are as Jews, of our relationship with God, and the very essence of our souls. During the holidays, when we looked around our community room and at the video screen, we witnessed the power of community within our spiritual home. We were praying in [...]
With the death and funeral of Queen Elizabeth II this week, hosts of people gathered around her coffin, waiting in never-ending queues just to get a glimpse of her majesty, even if just her spirit. It was the most watched event in human history. The “queen of the world” had passed away. People saw her as a symbol of the Monarchy, but also as a mother and a grandmother, the head of a family deeply rooted [...]
The High Holidays. This truly is a wonderful time of the year to come together with joy and solemnity….with feasting and fasting…and with prayer and inspiration. It is the time of year when we seek out family and embrace our shul community. In celebration of the season, in 2022 we have taken a giant leap in our financial commitment to strengthen and sustain our shul. Our Leadership Donors have responded generously: Gold Leadership Donors have [...]
When our shul’s next-door neighbors built a pool in their backyard, I toyed with the idea in my mind, that if our synagogue wanted to expand, we could become a modern day “shul with a pool.” Sounds so cool. The phenomenon became popular in America in the early 20th century. In his book Shul with a Pool: The Synagogue-Center in American Jewish History, David Kaufman credits the synagogue-center idea to Henry Berkowitz (1857-1924), a member of the first [...]
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