(delivered by Rabbi Maderer in Shabbat Service 12/9/16) Years ago when I lived in suburban NJ, there was a break-in in our neighborhood. We already had a burglar alarm in our house, so we added to the front porch the only extra security measure we could think of: a...
Delivered by Rabbi Jill Maderer, Inauguration of Mayor and City Council, The Academy of Music, 1/4/16. Today, we who call God many different names, and we who choose not to call to God at all, we Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist, Philadelphians of diverse neighborhoods, races, sexual orientations...
by Rabbi Jill Maderer So… Who is in the box? Who’s home falls in the Center City travel box when our special guest, the Pope, visits Philadelphia this fall? Me, too. Although still not complete, this week’s transportation and security update began to feed my hunger for a better understanding...
Delivered by Rabbi Jill Maderer this Shabbat... Thank you to Roberta for your beautiful Torah reading. When Roberta began to prepare for her Adult B’nei Mitzvah earlier this year, she felt especially draw to chanting Torah. It was then that her mother reminded her: Roberta’s great-grandfather was a hazzan–a...
This week, we have witnessed the chain-link fence around the congregation come down! We are not simply taking it down because it’s old or ugly. We are taking the fence down as we build up our relationships and partnerships within the community and throughout Philadelphia! Jewish law teaches the one stipulation for...
Were you able to find a seat ok? You may have noticed that when you enter this early part of the Yom Kippur afternoon service, it’s easy to find a place to sit! Nestled between the crowds of Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur morning, and the crowds that will soon...
Last month, a rabbi visiting Camp Harlam Overnight Camp scowled when in the dining hall, he saw the campers banging on tables to the beat of Birkat Hamazon, Grace After Meals. He missed it. This rabbi missed the whole point. He missed the fact that hundreds of campers knew...
On a cold January morning during rush hour, at a Washington, DC metro station, a man wearing blue jeans, a tee-shirt and a baseball cap takes out his violin and begins to play. Although the scene looks much like any street performance, it’s actually a stunt. This is not just...
“The great shofar is sounded, and the still, small voice is heard.” We read in the Un’taneh Tokef prayer, one of the central prayers of our High Holy Day liturgy, Uv’shofar gadol yitaka, v’kol d’mamah dakah yishama. How do we pay attention to the both the loud and the silent in...
We do not support LGBT Equality in spite of the fact that we are religious; we support equality because we are religious and understand that we are all created b’tzelem Elohim, in the image of God. Join us at RS this Friday evening at our 6:00 pm Shabbat service for...
