In the summer between 4th and 5th grade, my parents sent my sister and me to Camp Swig in Saratoga, CA. I retain a few really clear images from those ten days: 1. The look on the face of the poor counselor who had to figure out what to tell me when she realized that […]
Imagine, after going to bed for the night, waking up to the sound of screaming and yelling, the smell of smoke, and the sight of flames… somewhere nearby. You’ve just woken up, so everything is hazy, and you’re not sure how close the flames are, but you know something is clearly wrong. And so you […]
After a year of studying and wrestling with and exploring what it means to be a Jewish teen and part of a Jewish community, this year’s confirmation class created and led a Shavuot service that honored and celebrated their Jewish journey and the collective Jewish people’s journey to Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments. […]
“Blessed are you, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the Universe, who has made us holy with your commandments and commanded us to count the omer. Today is 37 days, which is five weeks and two days of the omer.” Those of you who have been attending Friday night services in the past few weeks may […]
Passover is coming! Are you prepared? (Imagine an encouraging smile from me. Take a deep breath, and keep reading.) Don’t worry, I’m not ready yet either! There are so many ways to celebrate, and so many options for how we might choose to make the seder “our own.” Below, a definitely NOT exhaustive of some […]
When Temple Beth El first came onto my radar as a potential future workplace, I sent my father (who spent his entire career as a reporter for the Associated Press) on a mission: research this and other synagogues I was interested in, and report back with findings. One of the first articles he uncovered – […]
A few weeks ago, during Torah Study here at Temple Beth El, our group ended up in an hour-long study of a single sentence in the torah portion. The beginning of parashat Vayera reads: “And God spoke to Moses and said to him, ‘I am Yud-Hey-Vav-Hey; I appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as El […]
Just over three weeks ago, 136 of us gathered in Silverman Social Hall to begin a conversation about justice, and Charlotte, and our role in building a more just city. We promised to report back to you, and this email serves to do that. But before we begin, we want to express a few notes […]
This week, a chicken taught me a really important lesson. Kind of. I was at the gym listening to On Being, a podcast that explores some of the larger existential life questions through interviews with scholars and thinkers of all stripes. In this particular episode, Krista Tippet interviewed Brain Pickings* creator and curator Maria Popova […]