Last Chance with Loring
I encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity this coming Shabbat (Shabbat Yachad, May 19) to spend some time with artist Loring Cornish. Following services and lunch, Loring will be leading a tour of our exhibit of his work. You will find Loring to be a delightful...
Pirkei Rabbanut: Things Rabbi Zaiman Taught Me About the Rabbinate
This Shabbat we are marking the 50th year of Rabbi Zaiman’s ordination as a rabbi. In his honor I’ve come up with some important things that he taught me about the rabbinate. David Letterman might call them a top ten. We might call them Pirkei Rabbanut, Teachings of...
Hazak Hazak V'Nithazek
Ten months ago Shoshana S. Cardin was the first member of the congregation to fill in a letter of our new Torah scroll. This past Tuesday night at 9pm Mimi Blitzer and David Mallott were the last members of our congregation to fill in letters. Like most partings, it was...
The Way the Jewish World is Changing
“May you live in interesting times.” Often thought of as a curse, in can also be seen as a blessing. Our world is interesting and complicated. As Jews, the modern world we live in would be virtually unrecognizable to our grandparents. What is fascinating is the way we...
Hunger - here in Baltimore and around the world
Many of our congregants participated in the Friday evening program for Global Hunger Shabbat, where Rabbi Wechsler led a discussion using Jewish texts to illuminate how our tradition views the problem of hunger and our responsibility to work to alleviate it, both as individuals...
More Good for the Earth
It's been awhile since my last posting, but it's never too late to do something good for the earth, and in turn, for ourselves. First, let's recognize this week's Global Hunger Shabbat, sponsored by the American Jewish World Service, to promote food justice around the world...
Try It, You'll Like It
Sumo wrestling? Mostly for males in the prime of life Nursing babies? Mostly for women in the prime of life. Adult Education? For everyone of every age Where did the erroneous rumor begin? I hear it all too frequently. “Stulman offers great programs and courses...
A Hidden Gem
In case you missed it, the Baltimore Jewish Times ran a cover article in the August 26 issue titled “The Jewish Baltimore Bucket List.” Included on the list of “18 things to do in town before you, um, die,” is a visit to our own Goldsmith Museum. The article says...
Nes Gadol
Our letter was a nun. It was the last letter in Zebulun, in the third verse of the first chapter of Exodus, which begins “These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each coming with his household: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun...
As a Driven Leaf
This past Shabbat, in my introduction to the Torah portion, I made reference to a historical novel called As A Driven Leaf. It is one of my all time favorite books and after seven years of working together, I found out on Shabbat that it is also one of Rabbi Shulman’s...
Your Sermon Input Needed
One of the joys (yes, joys) of the summer is spending much time developing sermons for the coming High Holidays and the year ahead. For the past several years I have sent out an email request to friends and family soliciting their thoughts. This blog seems like the ideal...
Conversation Starter
Someone has to start the conversation. After that, we can all join in. Throughout this summer, Dr. Arnold Eisen, Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, is publishing a series of brief on-line essays about the essential nature of Conservative Judaism. ...
Judaica Goes Mainstream
A few years ago, I participated in a week-long seminar in NYC co-sponsored by JTS and The Jewish Museum of New York. The focus of the seminar was Judaica and its use in Jewish ritual. The participants were all museum professionals, but of the eighteen attendees, more than...
A Talking Seder
Is your Seder gathering a reading session? Do participants around your table sit with their heads buried in a book, reading and following along? It doesn’t sound like a very nice dinner party to me. When I dine with my family and friends, it’s the conversation and interaction...
Watch Our Torah Writing Opening Ceremony
My favorite reaction from last Sunday’s Torah Writing Opening Ceremony is the overwhelming reaction of joy and inspiration everyone is sharing. In that celebration we did what we always intend to do when we gather as a synagogue community. We found our community’s voice...
Aging and Sage-ing
I sometimes tease that my “mid-life crisis” brought me to Baltimore and Chizuk Amuno. I don’t know how you marked the moment, or someday will. (There are many more interesting ways!) The other night, a group of us got together at the synagogue to talk about getting...
Opportunities to serve/Join us this Sunday (Dec. 12)
All of us can find ways to serve others - whether in our local community or by helping those in need elsewhere. Ruth Messinger's words from the Bimah on Shabbat yesterday were inspiring, and her question and answer session after lunch displayed a masterful understanding...
Shalom from Israel
I am delighted to be back in Israel, this time with the Maryland Clergy Initiative, sponsored by the Institute of Christian and Jewish Studies and the Baltimore Jewish Council. Our group of 25 includes 15 Christian clergy, 7 rabbis, and 3 communal professionals. We are exploring...
First Blog - Then Go To Israel
A friend asked me why I haven’t posted in a while. I said that I’ve been too busy. It’s true, though it’s also an excuse. I admit that I haven’t taken the time to blog because I haven’t had anything to I wanted to say, at least in this forum. In our culture,...
Religious Literacy
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life recently released the results of a new survey on religious knowledge in America. If you’re interested, you can take an abridged version of the quiz on line. (http://features.pewforum.org/quiz/us-religious-knowledge/index.php) I’m...
The Grand Design
British physicist and mathematician Stephen Hawking has published a new book, The Grand Design. In it this brilliant scientist explains that, “to understand the universe at the deepest level, we need to know not only how the universe behaves, but why.” He’s absolutely...
Ask the Rabbi
One of my favorite hours of the year comes on Yom Kippur afternoon. We meet in the sanctuary for a question and answer session. Congregants ask about theology, Jewish tradition and customs, current events, and any other pertinent questions they want to ask the rabbi. For...
Weighing Your Words
We have become a culture of imposed sound bites and trivializing commercials. Word choices especially adjectives can be misleading and misrepresent the reality of the topic. When a friend or acquaintance loses a lot of weight we wonder to ourselves whether the dramatic loss...
Preparing a Sermon
Over the summer, Chizuk Amuno asks congregants to deliver the Shabbat sermon in place of the regular Rabbis. I've enjoyed the other sermons very much. It is fascinating to hear the range of perspectives in our community. So this coming Saturday, it's my turn and it would...
