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.
And You Shall Teach Them Diligently to Your Children: What I Didn’t Understand…Until Now by Cantor Andrew Bernard
Cantor Bernard
09/21/2018
This summer I spent eight weeks teaching water safety to a bunch of preschoolers at the Downtown Seattle YMCA. This free program offered to the ...
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Choose “We” (Yom Kippur 5779) by Rabbi Dusty Klass
Rabbi Dusty Klass
09/19/2018
With gratitude to Rabbi Leah Citrin for walking through this writing process with me every year, and to Rabbis Miriam Farber Wajnberg, Asher Knight, and ...
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Choosing to Live While Standing in the Shadow of Death (Kol Nidrei 5779) by Rabbi Asher Knight
Rabbi Asher Knight
09/18/2018
Video of this sermon One day a group of American tourists traveling in Eastern Europe, went to visit the Chofetz Chaim. (In the rabbi world, ...
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Emunah: Rebuilding Faith in An Era of “In Nothing We Trust” (Rosh HaShanah 5779) by Rabbi Asher Knight
Rabbi Asher Knight
09/11/2018
Video of this sermon On December 14th, 2012 Noah Pozner and 25 other victims were murdered at Sandy Hook elementary school. Noah was a sweet, ...
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On Clenched Fists and Open Hands (Erev Rosh HaShanah 5779) by Rabbi Dusty Klass
Rabbi Dusty Klass
09/11/2018
With gratitude to Rabbis Asher Knight, Leah Citrin, Jay Asher LeVine, Miriam Farber Wajnberg, and Susan Landau, Cantor Mary Thomas, and Jeff Trost – for ...
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Finding Home by Janette Schwartz
Temple Beth El
09/09/2018
As far back as I can remember, I’ve had faith. Faith in the love of my parents, faith that tomorrow brings opportunity, and faith that ...
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Finding My Faith Again by Ethan Shore
Temple Beth El
09/09/2018
My life is in transition. I have gone from being a Software Engineer, working for the same company for 20 years, to being “43 years ...
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Faith in the Future by Amy Krakovitz Montoni
Temple Beth El
09/07/2018
We all hear it at least once daily: young people in America are lazy, selfish, dependent upon their parents, unwilling to take risks, unambitious. Stories ...
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Faith and Trust: I Can’t Have One Without the Other by Peter Blair
Temple Beth El
09/07/2018
Each year, Elul seems to bring challenges and decisions that have tremendous impact on my life. The practice of searching my spirit and soul for ...
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The High Holy Days: Self Compassion in the Uncertainty of Certainty by Rabbi Asher Knight (Charlotte Jewish News Editorial, September 2018)
Rabbi Asher Knight
09/06/2018
Years ago, during a visit to the Cairo museum, I stared into the face of Ramses II. Mummified and frozen in time, his body delicately ...
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Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust by Nora Yesowitch
Temple Beth El
09/05/2018
For me, faith and trust go together because if you meet a person and you get to know them and start to want to be ...
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Exploring the Animating Spirit of Life by David Weinrib
Temple Beth El
09/05/2018
At 13 years old, I did not have a Bar Mitzvah. I did, however, have lots of questions. Growing up in Montgomery, Alabama, I attended “Sunday School” in ...
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From Fear to FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) by Jaden Auslander
Temple Beth El
09/04/2018
Hello. My name is Jaden Auslander and I have juvenile arthritis, or JA. My JA affects every joint and most of the muscles in my ...
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FEAR: Face Everything And Rise by Megan Harkavy
Temple Beth El
09/03/2018
I recently read a quote: “F.E.A.R has two meanings: Forget Everything And Run or Face Everything And Rise.” I used to follow the “Forget Everything ...
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Living Life with Courage by Randi Eccleston
Temple Beth El
09/02/2018
My life was amazing and perfect until March of 2009, when my youngest child (I am the mom of two girls) ate walnuts and went ...
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