Naomi Shemer, hailed as the “first lady of Israeli song and poetry” is perhaps most famous for her song “Yerushlayim Shel Zahav” (“Jerusalem of Gold”) written in 1967 and often called an unofficial second national anthem. Shemer wrote the song for the Israeli Song Festival held on 15 May 1967,...
Yesterday and today marked the 79th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass, when ordinary Germans demonized their Jewish neighbors and lashed out against them in violence and hate. Soon after, once Hitler had control over France, the Vichy government there sent a message to King Mohammed V of...
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Anyone notice that stunning tapestry in the lobby when they walked in this morning? How could you not?! The tapestry was hand stitched in 1972 by a group of 49 women at the congregation, led by Evelyn Keyser, and recently restored through the generous support of RS Women. When I...
We invite you and your children to celebrate the High Holy Days with us this year. See the service schedule for Families with Young Children. L’Shana Tovah! High Holy Day Services for Families with Young Children Contemporary “Multi-generational” Morning Services: Requires a “pass;” please contact Catherine Fischer (cfischer@rodephshalom.org). Rosh Hashanah:...
This week’s Torah portion, Ki Teitzei, contains quite a few seemingly random, disconnected commandments. One especially striking commandment found in this week’s portion is: If you happen to come upon a bird’s nest along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the...
Picture the scene: The Israelites have been wandering for 40 years in the desert and are finally on the banks of the Jordan river just mere miles from the Holy Land. Moses, knowing that his time as their leader is coming to end, offers one final speech to his people....
One woman and her reticent seven year old child came in because she saw the chalk and balloons from the street. We invited her in, and gave her daughter a meal, and after she devoured a bagel, we gave her more. The way they ate said they hadn’t eaten in...
Have you ever seen the hashtag #firstworldproblems? A simple google search brings up some great ones like: The struggle of finding storage for 20 bottles of champagne #firstworldproblems I got really tan this weekend and now my concealer is too light!!! My dog won’t eat that chip I dropped, so...
Have you ever gotten one of those emails that said something like, “A Nigerian prince wants to send you $10,000 dollars; just send your bank account information and social security number…” About 6 weeks ago, we got a call to the office here at RS that Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah...