Temple Beth El Religious School Keeps Our Kids Connected By Moira Quinn Klein
September is a great month. Temperatures begin to slide from misery to comfortable. So does the humidity, by the way, which means “good hair days” outnumber the “bad”…a reason to love fall that is not to be taken lightly. We celebrate the High Holy Days, Sukkot, and Simchat Torah in quick succession. And moms and […]
And You Shall Teach Them Diligently to Your Children: What I Didn’t Understand…Until Now by Cantor Andrew Bernard
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 community to help reduce the number of drowning accidents is particularly near and dear to my heart after working in a pediatric ICU for many a “drowning season.” For the […]
Choose “We” (Yom Kippur 5779) by Rabbi Dusty Klass
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 Jay LeVine, Cantor Mary Thomas, and Jeff Trost for letting me think out loud with them. Video of this Sermon Something was wrong with Gus. The 700-lb polar bear at […]
Choosing to Live While Standing in the Shadow of Death (Kol Nidrei 5779) by Rabbi Asher Knight
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, famous rabbis have nicknames). When the tourists came to see him, they saw the world-famous Rabbi in a small study with a rickety desk and only a few books. One […]
Emunah: Rebuilding Faith in An Era of “In Nothing We Trust” (Rosh HaShanah 5779) by Rabbi Asher Knight
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, vivacious, six-year-old Jewish boy. We remember this horrifying news day well. In the years since, conspiracy groups have claimed that the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax. Noah’s parents, Lenny […]
On Clenched Fists and Open Hands (Erev Rosh HaShanah 5779) by Rabbi Dusty Klass
With gratitude to Rabbis Asher Knight, Leah Citrin, Jay Asher LeVine, Miriam Farber Wajnberg, and Susan Landau, Cantor Mary Thomas, and Jeff Trost – for your edits, conversations, and thought partnership. Video of this sermon Every December, my dad visited my elementary school classto light Chanukah candles and teach everyone how to spin the dreidel. […]
Finding Home by Janette Schwartz
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 everything changes. I’ve always had faith that there was a God above and surrounding me. A spirit that was certainly greater than myself or those I trusted. For me, faith […]
Finding My Faith Again by Ethan Shore
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 old and unemployed.” During the first seventy-five days of my ninety-day notice, I have freaked out with various levels of intensity. My mind swirls with the chaos of not knowing […]
Faith in the Future by Amy Krakovitz Montoni
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 galore abound about parents who fight their children’s battles in academics, complete their job application forms, or even go to employment interviews with them! But these stories are likely told […]
