by Rabbi Jill Maderer An Early Learning Center at RS:  “From the lips of babes and infants you have established strength” (Psalms 8:3).  Next fall, our “youngest generation” will strengthen […]

by Rabbi Jill Maderer  (Yom Kippur sermon delivered 9/28/09) Picture an old, bearded rabbi, sitting at the entrance to a Jewish cemetery on Long Island.  In Tony Kushner’s play, Angels […]

by Rabbi Jill Maderer  (Kol Nidre sermon delivered 9/27/09) “This evening I let my emotions get the best of me,” Congressman Joe Wilson said in a statement to the press. […]

 By Rabbi Jill Maderer  (Rosh Hashanah sermon delivered 9/19/09) “What’s on your mind?” asks Facebook. “Share and discover what’s happening right now, anywhere in the world,” invites Twitter.  “Broadcast yourself,” challenges Youtube.  […]

By Rabbi Jill Maderer L’shanah tovah umetukah. We wish each other a good and sweet new year. Typically, we celebrate our hope for a sweet new year by eating apples […]

Rabbi Jill L. Maderer At last night’s “Taste of the New Year,” Philadelphia’s wine-tasting and synagogue-matching program for young adults, I met many people who are seeking a congregation.  If […]

by Rabbi Jill Maderer      How much do you want to reveal? How much do you want to know? A current debate about social networking gets to the heart about […]

By Rabbi Jill Maderer This Friday, we continued our Shabbat summer series “Spiritual Power in Prayer” with a text that focuses on the one-line introduction to the Amidah: “O Lord, […]

By Rabbi Jill Maderer For generations and generations, Jewish communities have engaged a sofer (scribe) to pen a Torah scroll.  Each scribe follows extremely specific regulations in order to make the […]

by Rabbi Jill Maderer What kinds of questions can Jewish art challenge us to face? This week’s new RS Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art (PMJA) show inspires its curator, Matt […]