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...
Yom Kippur address delivered by RS President Michael Hauptman on October 9, 2019. In 1810, four men, who for 15 years had been part of an informal minyan, met in a house on Race Street to draft the bylaws and articles of worship for the nation’s first Ashkenazic congregation. Included...
Rabbi Maderer delivered this D’var Torah on Shabbat, 8/23 Two days ago, the Reform Movement’s rabbinic arm released the following statement: “The Central Conference of American Rabbis is dismayed by President Donald J. Trump’s politically charged and divisive statement referring to Jews...
This week’s Torah portion, Bo, includes a text from the Passover seder. Through my family’s seder table ruckus, I always hear the special emphasis my family reads in this part. “And you shall explain it to your child on that day: ‘It is because of what the Eternal did for...
Yom Kippur Address delivered by RS President Michael Hauptman on September 19, 2018. There’s a story in the Talmud about an old man planting a fruit tree by the side of the road. A traveler walking by asks him how long it will be before that tree produces fruit. The...
We have seen the words, “Me Too” on our computer screens all week long. In the wake of the most recent sexual harassment reports, actress Alyssa Milano tweeted: “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted, write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet. If all the women who have...
Yom Kippur Address delivered by RS President Michael Hauptman on September 30, 2017. Language has always been an interest of mine; how language evolves, where words come from and how language provides a window into a society or culture. So, a book I read recently, Aphrodite and the Rabbis by...
Have you seen the new Wonder Woman movie? I have been thinking about Wonder Woman this week, because of some recent news commentary. The Israeli Woman who sued El Al airlines for sexism won her landmark case. She had been told to change her seat because an Orthodox man wanted...
Delivered by Rabbi Maderer Friday night when we offered Renewal of Marriage Vows, and it was also Rabbi Maderer’s first Shabbat as senior rabbi. When Cantor Frankel chants the 7 Blessings/the Sheva Brachot in the vows renewal ceremony, we will hear a list of almost every word the Hebrew...
Princess Leia, actually Carrie Fisher, of blessed memory, recalls an outraged father challenging her, because she agreed to wear the skimpy iron bikini, in the scene with Jabba the Hutt, in The Return of the Jedi movie. Fisher’s response? A giant slug captured me, and forced me to wear that...
