The TBE Blog is the space where Temple Beth El’s Leadership Team members reflect on relevant topics that are most meaningful to us. Here you will find musings on everything from prayer to politics, music to mysticism and history to current day life. From our iPads, smartphones, and laptops to yours, these are the things that inspire us, keep us up at night, and fuel our own Jewish journeys.
Seattle Lockdown – Day #24
Cantor Bernard
04/08/2020
Tonight on the evening of Seder, Jews around the world are supposed to gather with family and friends to retell the story of liberation that ...
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A Reflection on Yom HaShoah
Temple Beth El
04/01/2020
My grandmother, Erika, who I called “Nana,” was born in Vienna, Austria in 1924. She was a survivor of both the Auschwitz-Birkenau and Bergen-Belsen concentration ...
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Fair Driving Clinic Helps Drivers Who Can’t Afford to Pay
Rabbi Dusty Klass
04/01/2020
Getting a traffic ticket is frustrating for everyone, but for some without the ability to pay for those traffic tickets, it’s crippling. Temple Beth El ...
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Reflections on COVID-19
Cantor Bernard
04/01/2020
Friends, This is a set of three daily reflections from Seattle, written March 20–22, 2020. Seattle reported the first U.S. case of COVID-19 in January ...
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A Different “Hatikvah” By Sydney Abeshaus
Temple Beth El
02/26/2020
When my family first joined Temple Beth El in 2011, I was shy, apprehensive, and an overall introvert. Beginning religious school in the middle of ...
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Purim and the reframing of “How are you?”
Cantor Mary Thomas
02/25/2020
Last week at a conference out of town, surrounded for two days by old friends and colleagues, I was plagued by three small words: “How ...
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Singing for Joy, Singing to Celebrate
Cantor Mary Thomas
02/01/2020
Like many in the early 90s, I learned the section of Torah that I read at my Bat Mitzvah from a tape that my childhood ...
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On Our Way to Liberation, With a Little Help From our Friends
Rabbi Dusty Klass
01/04/2020
Each time I get to lead t’filah with our 6th and 7th graders, I pause when we arrive at Mi Chamocha and ask: what does ...
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Navigating the December Dilemma
Rabbi Asher Knight
12/04/2019
Nothing stirs up feelings quite like the winter holiday season. Celebrations that should be joyful can become a source of conflict. Someone recently reflected to ...
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TBE Bends Toward Justice Recap
Temple Beth El
11/15/2019
It was cold on the evening of Wednesday, November 13, but the Temple Beth El congregants who showed up for the “TBE Bends Toward Justice: ...
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Standing at the Door
Susan Jacobs
11/04/2019
For the past 20 years I have stood at the door of Temple Beth El Religious School to welcome our students as they enter. Admittedly, ...
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Take The Long Way ‘Round: Yom Kippur 5780 Sermon by Rabbi Dusty Klass
Rabbi Dusty Klass
10/09/2019
Co-written with Rabbi Leah Citrin With thanks to Rabbis Asher Knight, Susan Landau, and Miriam Farber Wajnberg for their edits and suggestions, and to Jeff ...
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I Do Not Sew – A Yizkor (Memorial) Drash
Rabbi Schindler
10/09/2019
I do not sew. Sewing and cooking – some of the traditional aspects of being a homemaker – are not my forte. I am envious ...
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Shavat Vayinafash: Be Still and Breathe Again: Kol Nidre 5780 Sermon by Rabbi Asher Knight
Rabbi Asher Knight
10/08/2019
This summer, after an intense eight months, Ana and I took Micah and Jonas to the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. We stayed in a rustic ...
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The Values We Express When We Disagree: Rosh Hashanah 5780 Sermon by Rabbi Asher Knight
Rabbi Asher Knight
09/30/2019
Two thousand years ago, Jewish leaders were engaged in a serious debate. According to the book of Deuteronomy, financial debts were forgiven every seven years. ...
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