Digging Our Fathers’ Wells? by Rabbi Dusty Klass
“Like father, like son,” reads the old adage. And indeed, many Torah scholars note the parallels between Abraham’s journey and his son Isaac’s journey, which we learn about in this week’s Torah portion. Both do a lot of traveling, both grapple with foreign leaders and attempt to pass their wives off as sisters as a […]
Chanukah: Lighting the Lights That Help Us See More Clearly by Rabbi Dusty Klass
I just spent a whirlwind eight days in Israel; full of listening and learning – and a lot of sitting in rooms and meeting important people. My time in Jerusalem has given me many things to think about, and wrestle with, as all good trips to Jerusalem do. And as with all trips to Israel, […]
Community Gatherings, Large and Small by Cantor Andrew Bernard
One of key features of Judaism is the emphasis on community. We celebrate as a community. We mourn as a community. We pray as a community. We work and play as a community. We gather as a community for a variety of functions. This December, we have two special communal gatherings. The first is […]
Our Jewish Future: We Need Your Help by Rabbi Asher Knight
On Rosh Hashanah, I spoke about a challenge of our modern society: We often fail to relate, face-to-face with family, friends, neighbors, and our fellow Jews in our congregation. Consider the effects of the geographic reality of the greater Charlotte area. Temple Beth El’s 3,300 souls live in over 10 zip-codes, spread-out over large geographic […]
What is Congregational Shabbat? by Cantor Andrew Bernard
Congregational Shabbat is an energetic, highly participatory, multi-generational Shabbat morning series of activities, food, and worship designed to engage the great diversity of our Temple Beth El community. Beginning nine years ago, we adjusted the b’nei mitzvah calendar so that we could devote one Shabbat morning each month during the academic year (October through May) […]
Modim Anachnu Lach by Candace Naliboff, Director of Congregational Engagement
The first time I heard Ms. Patty sing Modim Anachnu Lach with our religious school children during t’filah on a beautiful Sunday morning, it brought that prayer to life for me in a way that I had not previously experienced. Modim anachnu lach – we give thanks, we gratefully acknowledge, we are thankful…all are words […]
Don’t Forget Who You Once Were by Cantor Mary Rebecca Thomas
I had a vacation day earlier this week, and I spent it entirely sitting in public spaces (Barnes and Nobles, Amelie’s) reading a book that simply had nothing to do with Judaism, or my job, or the Jewish people, or community building, or prayer, or Torah. It was just a book and a book […]
Tree People, Forest People, and Trying to be More of Both by Rabbi Dusty Klass
I have always been a Tree Person. When I go hiking, I’m the one taking close-up photo of a particularly gnarled root system or the jigsaw puzzle-piece shaped bark of a ponderosa pine. Don’t get me wrong; I love a gorgeous view. But my phone camera rarely captures the grandeur of a mountain range, so […]
Touching Torah by Susan Jacobs, Director of Education
How many of us grew up terrified of ever touching the Torah scroll? How many of us really ever had a chance to see the Torah up close? The Torah is our most sacred object and as I was growing up the Torah became something beyond my reach. Something so revered that being in close […]
