Anne, Martin and the Golden Calf
This week, the Malverne School District hosted a live program from the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect called “Letters from Anne and Martin,” where actors read excerpts from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s “Letter From A Birmingham Jail” and "The Diary of Anne...
The Kindness of Our Hearts
This year, National Random Acts of Kindness week leads up to one of my favorite Torah readings, Terumah. Teruma means “gift,” or “donation.” As the Israelites are traveling in the wilderness of Sinai, they’re receiving the commandments from God and from Moses. They’re...
The Rules We Live By
Divin In this week’s Torah reading, Mishpatim, the Torah enumerates many, many laws governing human behavior and actions. Amazingly, the very first ordinance has to do with the proper treatment of Hebrew slaves; they can only work for six years and must go free in the...
Good Advice?
I grew up listening to Allen Sherman’s records, and they’re as funny to me today as they were back in the 60s. One song, that I discovered as an adult, is called “Good Advice.” In it, he cites a man named Otis who had invented a room that “goes side to side.” Sherman...
All We Need Is A Miracle?
Sam prays for years to win the lottery, and it never happens. As time goes on, his prayers to God become more fervent, until finally, a heavenly voice booms, “Sam, meet me halfway, buy a ticket.” Ba dump bump. It seems like this week’s Torah reading, Beshallach, is an...
Pharaoh’s Buyer’s Remorse
It’s really hard to be wrong, to have regrets, to be on the “losing” side of something. Making (and acknowledging) mistakes is also hard, if not harder. When I’m knitting, and realize there’s a mistake in the piece, perhaps several rows back, I often dig in and...
“Ko-vid-26*” and Covid-19
Last year at this time I was happily making initial preparations for the Malverne Jewish Center’s third annual Community Passover Seder. Well, you know what they say about “the best laid plans.” I tried to hold out hope that the novel coronavirus that had reached our...
Dissenting: SCOTUS and the Talmud
On January 5th, I marked one year of Daf Yomi, the practice of studying one page of Talmud per day, every day. Now before you get overly impressed, keep in mind that I often read the page in English, or the summary from My Jewish Learning. Some days I get behind and...
Lighting Up The Darkness
Darkness and light are motifs that have been around since, well, the beginning. Coming as it does at the darkest time of the year in the northern hemisphere, Hanukkah–the Festival of Lights–acknowledges the very human desire and need for illumination. If the heavenly...
Vayera, Putting God On Hold
What happens when two things of equal importance are put before you? How do you decide which to focus on? Our Torah reading this week, Vayera, opens with just such a dilemma, “The LORD appeared to [Abraham] by the terebinths of Mamre; he was sitting at the entrance of...
Back to the Garden
“And now, back to our regularly scheduled program…” The month of Tishrei, which began with the soul-searching of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and ended with the joyous celebrations of Sukkot and Simchat Torah, is about to end, allowing us to settle back into a...
Simchat Torah – The Joys of Beginning and Ending
Twenty-Eight years ago, the day after Simchat Torah, we were blessed with a daughter whose Hebrew name is Simcha Yehudit – “Joy of Judaism” or “Jewish Joy.” The choice of name had nothing to do with the holiday itself, but a happy coincidence. Simchat Torah, one of...
A Huff And A Puff And Then What?
In synagogues all over the world during the festival of Sukkot, the book of Kohelet/Ecclesiastes will be read during services, most likely on Shabbat. Kohelet is one of the “Five Scrolls” in our biblical canon, and each is read on a different occasion; Esther on...
Ruth Bader Ginsberg–A New Judge In The Heavenly Court
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, of Blessed Memory, was a trail-blazer and fierce advocate for the rights of all. She worked tireless so that women and girls in the future might not have to struggle as she did, to be accepted as a woman in a man's...
Standing at the Edge of Promise
In 2003, my parents, of blessed memory, became snowbirds. They spent the winter in Sarasota, Florida and the summer in Trumbull, Connecticut where my sister and I were raised. One year, during the February vacation, we took the kids to my parents, spent a few days all...
Latest Sermons
Shema: Listening, Hearing and the Shofar
Rosh Hashanah 5783, Day 2 The word, “Shema.” What do you think of when you hear it? Usually, we think of “The Shema” as the verses we chant or sing from the book of Devarim, Deuteronomy, and in that context, it’s a bold theological statement. It is an idea which goes...
A Time For fixing, A Time for Finishing
A needle felt project the author finished. Rosh Hashanah Day 1, 5783 A Time for Fixing and a Time for Finishing As I sit in my home, I hear things calling to me. Often, they’re coated in chocolate, but not always. More often, they’re unfinished projects, clutter,...
Shoftim: Can Destruction be Just?
Photo: Lawrence Barringer, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Bugwood.org licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. The spotted lantern fly has arrived in our area, and we’re being advised to squash them if we see them. This bug has no natural...
Latest Midrash HaZak
Tetzaveh: Geometric Shapes, Inner Spaces, and Shared Remembrance
Tetzaveh: Geometric Shapes, Inner Spaces, and Shared Remembrance By Peninnah Schram Two geometrical shapes jumped off the pages in this technicolor parasha, Tetzaveh: frames of gold and pomegranates. What often happens when we read and study the richly textured layers...
M’tzora: If Walls Could Talk
Dirty Concrete Wall | Rough surface of dirty concrete wall. … | Flickr M'tzora: If Walls Could Talk Reb Carl Viniar Many of us still remember our parents saying, “just wait until you’re older!” I thought they were talking about being able to do more things. Now that I...
Terumah: Bringing The Gifts Of Your Life
Terumah: Bringing The Gifts Of Your Life Rabbi Jill Berkson Zimmerman One day, I was perusing my dear friend Karen’s bookshelves because I was always interested in what new finds she had acquired. She commented to me that she had stopped purchasing new books, and...
Latest Personal Blogs
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