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.
Israel’s Complexity: Climbing Down the Ladders of Inference by Rabbi Asher Knight – Yom Kippur 5778
Rabbi Asher Knight
09/30/2017
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 ...
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Shmirat Hanefesh and Tikkun HaGuf: Cultivating Mental Health by Rabbi Dusty Klass – Erev Yom Kippur 5778
Rabbi Dusty Klass
09/30/2017
Shmirat Hanefesh and Tikkun HaGuf: Cultivating Mental Health Erev Yom Kippur 5778 Co-writers: Rabbi Dusty Klass, Rabbi Leah Citrin Editing Team: Rabbi Asher Knight, Rabbi ...
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Sh’ma Koleinu: Hear Our Voice by Rabbi Asher Knight – Rosh Hashanah Sermon 5778
Rabbi Asher Knight
09/22/2017
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 ...
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Rosh Hashanah President’s Speech by Ginny Rosenberg
Temple Beth El
09/21/2017
Bishop and I had the good fortune to visit Spain this summer. As our tour guide led us through the cobbled streets of the old ...
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On Race and ReHumanization by Rabbi Dusty Klass – Rosh Hashanah Sermon 5778
Rabbi Dusty Klass
09/21/2017
Rosh haShana 5778: On Race and ReHumanization by Rabbi Dusty Klass Think back for a moment, To a year ago. A year ago, I was ...
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Shanah Tovah U’Metukah from Rabbi Knight
Rabbi Asher Knight
09/19/2017
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 ...
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Community Begins with a Warm Welcome by Holly Levinson
Temple Beth El
09/18/2017
Abraham and Sarah were welcoming people. Abraham’s tent opened on four sides to welcome travelers from all directions. Abraham did not wait for strangers to ...
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A Community of Legos by Andy Siegel
Temple Beth El
09/18/2017
We are all legos. Each of us unique in design, filled with color and infinite potential. One lego is cool. Two legos makes a combination. ...
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Community Equals Connectedness by Ann Baumgarten
Temple Beth El
09/18/2017
It was a hard decision to leave one community for another. The place where our sons were born and raised, the place where we had ...
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Shared Stories Build Community by Emily Zimmern
Temple Beth El
09/18/2017
On a recent Sunday I experienced a remarkable example of the power of stories to build community. As members of the Temple’s community organizing team, ...
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Kehilah/Community by Harrison Lord
Temple Beth El
09/18/2017
“You know the Jews – they all stick together.” A potential client told me that when I first started practicing law. At the time, it ...
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You’re All My People by Jennifer Sawyer
Temple Beth El
09/18/2017
I recently had the opportunity, thanks to TBE and PJ Library, to attend NewCAJE, an amazing national conference for Jewish Educators held this year in ...
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Elul Reflection on Community by Rabbi Dusty Klass
Rabbi Dusty Klass
09/13/2017
As we enter the final week of Elul, we move into our final topic of reflection, Kehilah: Community. Writing about community was such a popular ...
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Kehilah/Community: Kelly, just “y” by Matt Kelly
Temple Beth El
09/13/2017
I hate to say it, but the time I first felt truly a part of the community was at a committee meeting. Not at a ...
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Reflections for Elul: Kehilah – Community by Peter Blair
Temple Beth El
09/13/2017
My mother and father married in the Summer of love, 1967. My mother grew up in Pittsburgh, PA and attended Rodef Shalom Synagogue, my father ...
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