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“Whose voice do we hear beckoning us to change? Is the shofar blast the sound of our own soul, the voice of our heart that we have sought to silence for so many years? Or is it the voice of angels whom God has sent to remind us that we already know what we have to do? Continue reading
A sage is a passenger on a horse and wagon. As they pass a farm, the driver sees some hay. He stops his horse, looks around carefully to make sure no one is watching, runs out, and grabs a bundle of hay.Please join us for Jewish Meditation before Shabbat services on Friday evenings, starting August 9, 5-5:30pm (you are welcome to arrive 4:45 to settle in; please be sure to arrive by 5:15 when the doors close for silence). In these coming weeks we will focus on brief teachings from This is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation, by Rabbi Alan Lew.
In an article this April, Rabbi Kuhn taught us: “A recent study found that Philadelphia has the highest rate of “deep poverty” – people with incomes below half the poverty line – of any of the nations 10 most populous cities.* The study found that Philadelphia’s “deep poverty” rate** is around 12.9%, or 200,000 people.”
Even as we look to the Prophets to inspire us that justice will someday flow like a river and righteousness like a mighty stream, while the homeless are in our midst, they have much to teach us.
Is God present in our obstacles? Do hindrances lead us to liberation, growth and insight? Now in the middle of the Omer, the countdown–or count up–to our Shavuot celebration of revelation, turn back to the Torah reading from the conclusion of Pesach. In the Song of the Sea, the text tells the story of Egyptians chasing and then the Israelites rescue at the sea. In this celebration of miracle in Hebrew verse, God’s miracles are described step by step: God hurled horse and driver into the sea; God is our strength and might; at the blast of G’s nostrils, the waters piled up like a straight wall.
The list is about to be followed by Michamocha–the declaration of God’s wonders, but first a sentence, seemingly out of order–the text brings back a focus on the Egyptians: “The foe said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, My desire shall have its fill of them. I will bare my sword. My hand shall subdue them.”Continue reading
What can Judaism offer to the spiritual journey in recovery? The more I learn about Judaism and the more a learn about recovery, the clearer the answer becomes. Jewish wisdom enriches the spiritual journey of recovery in many of the same ways Judaism deepens any of our spiritual journeys.
In Jewish recovery author and teacher Rabbi Kerry Olitzky’s discussion with us at Rodeph Shalom last night, “The 12 Steps: A Message for Everyone,” he spoke about how the core foundations of Judaism, Torah, community and God, can support someone in recovery and can support every one of us in the struggles of life we face. I’d like to share some of my take-aways from Rabbi Olitzky’s teachings.Continue reading
By Dena Herrin, RS President
Before I tell you about a profound moment that I had, let me give you some context. As some of you know, my connections to Judaism for most of my life were weak at best. I left Hebrew school, which I hated, at 10 years old and barely stepped in a synagogue for the next 25 years. I occasionally went with my parents for the High Holy Days, but really didn’t understand or engage in the service. The word and concept of God made me very uncomfortable, still does. Our Rosh Hashanah dinners, Yom Kippur breakfasts and Passover Seders were occasions I enjoyed as family gatherings, and to a much lesser extent, cultural events. For me, there really was no spirituality or deep religious context to these holidays. I joined Rodeph Shalom in an effort to find some Jewish connection for my children. We are an interfaith family and my Jewish foundations were simply too shallow to provide relevant content and meaning for my family. I share this background because the moment that I want to tell you about occurred in the sanctuary here, at Rodeph Shalom, at a time when my connections to Judaism and to the synagogue were very superficial.
by Carl Schneider, presented at 09/16/11 Shabbat service
I have lived comfortably in immediate communities that were significantly or overwhelmingly Jewish. My boyhood home was in the Wynnefield section of Philadelphia. It was so Jewish that I remember going to elementary school one day to find that there were no other students. The custodian told me that it was a teacher in-service day because it was a Jewish holiday and no kids were expected. I assure you it was not one of the High Holidays, or one of the other biggies like Passover, when even my non-observant parents knew to keep me home. I think the day in question was something like Lag B’Omer or Tu B’shevat. As a result, I have had very little personal experience with overt anti-Semitism Despite my comfortable surroundings, I have always felt that being Jewish separates me, as part of a small minority, from the larger society. Continue reading
by Rabbi Bill Kuhn
by Dan Seltzer, presented at August 19 Shabbat Service
With a sense of relief that comes with confessing, but also in the Socratic spirit of “the only thing I know is that I don’t know anything,” tonight I am going to talk about whether I believe God exists. If this topic makes you feel uncomfortable, I assure you there’s at least one other person in the room that feels the same way. Me. But first, I want to set the stage by describing a profound moment in my life. The summer after graduating college, some friends and I took a week-long canoe trip through the Allagash River Wilderness.Continue reading
by Thomas Perloff, presented at August 12 Shabbat Service
Before sharing a profound moment, I would like to provide some background.
First, I am a numbers guy. In high school, I won the math prize. In college, I majored in economics. In graduate school I pursued economics and was steeped in econometrics, graphs and statistics. For thirty-some years I worked in the low margin foodservice distribution business, where, if you didn’t pay close attention to the numbers, your business was not sustainable.Continue reading
