From Psalm 11 – a Sukkot Prayer for Breaking Bread on Broad Families Inspired by Rabbi Eli Freedman’s Sukkot sermon for 2020 There is a catastrophe happening. The foundations have crumbled and lie like broken bricks on the sidewalk. Every Wednesday morning, a line of families straggles from the...
Delivered by Rabbi Jill Maderer on Friday, July 31. Eicha—how could this be. These are the first words of the Book of Lamentations, the biblical book read this past week on Tisha B’Av, the day of Jewish communal lamenting, for the destruction of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. Beyond the...
Elisha ben Abuyah is the main character in Milton Steinberg’s famous novel, As a Driven Leaf. Elisha is born in second century Palestine, under Roman rule and Hellenistic influence. His mother dies in childbirth. He is raised by his father who is sympathetic to Greek culture and philosophy, but he...
Rabbi Maderer delivered this sermon on June 5, 2020. Our congregation mourns the brutal killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless others whose stories we see in the news and whose stories we do not see in the news, such as Tony McDade. Tony McDade was a Black transgender man killed...
The divine image has been diminished by the recent unconscionable killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Dreasjon Reed, Tony McDade, and countless others, manifestations of systemic racism that has for many years pervaded the education, justice, economic, and healthcare systems, and now COVID-19 trends of our city and nation. Jewish tradition teaches:...
In one of Michael Hauptman’s Yom Kippur speeches, he recalled the story of the building that was made without light fixtures, so that each member of the community would feel compelled to bring their own lamp. Mike, thank you for bringing your contributions—your lamp. Your gift to our congregation is...
Thank you, Michael, for your kind introduction and for serving as my mentor and guide throughout this last year, helping, along with Rabbi Maderer, to prepare me for this role. I believe I now have a more complete understanding of my role, and, from what I’ve seen, if I can...
Good evening and welcome to the 2020 Annual Meeting of Congregants. While the format for this meeting may feel a little different than in the past, the purpose remains the same: to present and review the highlights of this past year, to introduce an agenda for the year to come,...
Don’t Act on Fear: Catherine Fischer’s Torah in Honor of Her Retirement delivered by Rabbi Maderer When, almost 2 decades ago I came to know Catherine Fischer, she was working at the Union for Reform Judaism’s then regional office as the part-time coordinator of Outreach. I remember our 1st phone...
Catherine and I first met over coffee at the Starbucks at 16th & Arch in January 2008. She was the newly hired Membership Director, and I was Membership Chair. We discussed the broader points of synagogue membership and our visions for membership at Rodeph Shalom. It was the start of...
