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...
Lost: One Afikomen
It is one of those stories that are just strange enough to be true. It is now Monday morning, about 36 hours since the second Seder and our afikoman is still missing. Halakhically (according to Jewish law) this is a problem. Or at least it would be a problem if we had...
Can You Believe It?!
Can you believe it? Rosh HaShana services are over? Every year we can’t help but notice how much faster the pages of a calendar turns. When we look back, the years seem like months; months seem like days; days seem like hours; and hours seem like minutes. However,...
9/11
The horrors of 9/11 felt by all Americans reverberated within the Jewish community not only due to grief at the tragic loss of so many lives but also from a recognition that a terror with which we were all too familiar had now reached these shores. We have marked each anniversary...
Shiva
It's no secret that younger people show less interest in affiliating with organizations than people of even a few years back. Newer generations are more comfortable with multiple identities. They don't identify as specifically this or that. Personally, it's a trend I embrace...
Counting Down
There was something perfectly perfect about being pregnant during the omer. For weeks I quietly counted the days, weeks and months as I watched a new life grow. Then, beginning on the second night of Passover, the whole Jewish community joined in counting as well. ...
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...
The Walls are Talking
If you have been in the Schechter lobby recently you might have heard the walls talking. For the past weeks parents, students, alumni, faculty and community members have been painting murals on the walls in honor of Krieger Schechter’s 30th anniversary. I’ve been keeping...
Great Kick-Off to the Torah Writing Campaign
The shul was packed on Sunday for the kick-off to the Torah writing campaign. It was a joyous, mostly informal event. The procession of Torah scrolls was accompanied by live klezmer music. Rabbis Shulman and Wechsler exchanged quips at the bimah. Then Rabbi Moshe Druin,...
Day at the Museum
“Dad, if our kitchen blender is on display in a museum case, don’t you think its time to buy a new one?” Robin and I laughed at our daughter’s question. Our family was in the middle of visiting the new National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia. ...
Why Did God Put the Tags in Back?
God has been a frequent topic of conversation in our house. It started a few weeks ago when my almost five year old daughter pointed to my head and said, “What’s that?” “That’s my hair.” I replied. “No that, next to your head.” I explained that it was...
