It is customary for Jews to study one of the six chapters of Pirke Avot – the Ethics of our Ancestors – on each of the six shabbatot between the holidays of Passover and Shavuot. Found within the Mishnah, Pirke Avot is a collection of rabbinic sayings and ethical teachings. One of my favorite maxims […]
As a rabbi, I believe that the communal prayer experience begins with the individual, and the potential for individual spiritual growth and transformation within community. I also believe that experience of the transcendent is strengthened by a sense of being rooted in community. The stronger our community relates with each other, the more transcendent the […]
At Temple Beth El, our Jewish learning helps to create sacred connections inspired by Jewish wisdom. Temple Beth El has been proud of our strong adult Jewish Education offerings. From our “Pathways to Jewish Learning and Living,” to Adult Hebrew, and Anshei Mitzvah, to South Park and Uptown Talmud, to scholar-in-residences, to S.P.I.C.E. and Senior […]
Prayer means something different to each of us. And in each stage and moment in our lives, we may need prayer differently. Recently, our high school youth group, LIBERTY, welcomed over two-hundred teenagers from around the southeast to Temple Beth El. As we prayed and sang our Shabbat evening service, the voices of the teenagers […]
The Torah describes the harvest festival of Sukkot as a time to give thanks to God for the bounty and beauty of the world. Our Jewish holiday inspired the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony in 1623 to shape new rituals to express their timeless gratitude. As Jews, as Americans, as human beings, we too give thanks […]
In June, I met a recent college graduate named Brooke Davies. Brooke grew up here in Charlotte, graduated from Hebrew High, was a leader in her youth group, and traveled to Israel with her Jewish summer camp. After matriculating to UNC, Chapel Hill, she remained active in the Jewish community. During Brooke’s senior year, she […]
We Do Not Need To Face This World Alone Rosh HaShanah Sermon – 5778 Something crumbled inside of me as I watched Charlottesville’s beautiful streets fill with hate-spewing marchers.[1] Protesting for the preservation of a confederate statue of Robert E. Lee, they carried swastikas and banners that read, “Jews are Satan’s Children”. And they chanted […]
There is a legend about a man named Yameel, the swiftest runner and most reliable messenger in all of Africa. One day, a village elder found Yameel standing motionless in the middle of a path. The leader asked, “Why have you stopped in the middle of your mission?” Yameel answered, “I have been running so […]
The TaNaKh (Hebrew Bible) is filled with Jewish leaders who lived their lives with various types of physical disabilities and emotional struggles. Isaac suffers from blindness. Jacob walks with a limp. Moses delivers the book of Deuteronomy, including this week’s Torah portion, with a stutter. Naomi, Saul, and Jonah struggle with depression. Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel […]