615 N. Broad St. Philadelphia, PA 19123 | 215.627.6747
615 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, PA 19123 | 215.627.6747
For the sermon on Friday, July 11, our clergy will be drawing inspiration from your comments to the question:
“When have you taken a risk and done something outside your comfort zone?”
Click here for more information about the nature of crowd sourcing from Rabbi Kuhn’s blog
‘A Voice Says: Cry Out! And I Say:
What Shall I Cry?’ (Isaiah 40:6)
With the discovery of the bodies of the three kidnapped and murdered students, Gilad Shaar, Naftali Frenkel and Eyal Yifrach, we are left numb. Grief, anger, sadness, disappointment and hopelessness have all converged in our hearts and souls.
We, their extended family in the House of Israel, mourn their loss.
How filled with anger we are at the realization that these tragic deaths came at the hands of those who would do anything to impede the forces of peace. The murderers’ hands are bloodied, not just with the blood of these innocent young men, but with the shattered hopes of those in Israel and the Palestinian community who wish only for peace to reign throughout the land.
The World Union for Progressive Judaism joins all of Israel and those who seek peace within her borders and with her neighbors, in offering prayers of comfort to the grieving families of Gilad, Naftali and Eyal.
We vow to continue to support the efforts of all those who are working for peace.
The prophet Isaiah reminds us that we have been called upon to bring comfort:
נחמו נחמו עמי
“Comfort My people, Comfort them.” (Isaiah 40:1)
And so, we hold the memories of these three young men in our warm embrace, and resolve that we will not allow the terrorists to achieve their goal of destroying the dream that will, speedily and soon, lead to peace in the land.
Rabbi Daniel H Freelander Michael Grabiner
President-Elect Chairman
For the sermon on Friday, July 4, our clergy will be drawing inspiration from your comments to the question:
Have you ever felt that food is sacred? How does food connect you to others? To your family? To Judaism?
Click here for more information about the nature of crowd sourcing from Rabbi Kuhn’s blog
Imagine that you are a member of the Rodeph Shalom clergy team, and you could tap into the collective wisdom of our congregation to help you write your sermons this summer.
That is exactly what we are going to do this summer with CROWDSOURCING SUMMER SERMON SERIES.
What is Crowdsourcing? It is the process of obtaining ideas or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people, especially from the online community. (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, 2014)
What is Crowdsourcing a Sermon? It is an opportunity for us to draw inspiration from your comments and to encourage conversation among our congregants on important Jewish issues. Crowdsourcing sermons will be a way for us to find an opportunity to draw closer as a community. It will be a way for us to fulfill our Vision of creating profound connectionsContinue reading
A continuing theme running through the book of Exodus is the coming and going of both Moses and God. After the lengthy drama of the Exodus, Moses disappears up the mountain and reappears to see the chaos of the episode of The Golden Calf. He is God’s corporeal messenger to Pharoah but absent from the discussion in Parashat T’tzaveh of the priestly responsibilities. God, too, is near when displaying signs and wonders in Egypt and splitting the sea, enabling the Israelites to pass to freedom, and also remote to the Israelites while Moses is up on the mountain receiving the law. Indeed, the whole discussion of the building of the Mishkan (tabernacle) through a great proportion of the book of Exodus revolves around the central question of how God will dwell among the people, so the Israelites understand that something that cannot be seen or touched can feel close.
What does it mean to be present? What does it mean to have presence? Perhaps we best consider our most abstract questions through the abstraction of art.Continue reading
Rabbi Jill Maderer’s Blessing to the Buerger Early Learning Center Graduates, Congregation Rodeph Shalom, 2014
(Inspired by this year’s Dr. Seuss week…)
The sun did not shine,
It was too wet to play.
So Bueger ELC
Had graduation day!
Many of you‘ve
been with us from start.
Others are new friends.
Could it be time to part?
Compelled by stories of catastrophe, novelist Karen Thomson Walker, recently (TED Talk) offered an interpretation of the story of the Whaleship Essex. In 1820, 3000 miles off the coast of Chile in one of the most remote regions of the Pacific Ocean, 20 American sailors watched their ship flood with sea water. They had been struck by a sperm whale. As the ship began to sink, the men huddled together in 3 small whaleboats, stocked only with rudimentary navigation equipment and limited supplies of food and water. These were the men of the Whaleship Essex, whose story would later inspire parts of Moby Dick.Continue reading
On this final day of the Omer as we enter Shavuot and read the Book of Ruth, we reflect upon her immigration into the land and people of Israel, the loving-kindness with which Naomi welcomes Ruth and the loving-kindness which Ruth embraces Naomi. In is blog post “We Stand with the Ruth of Today,” Rabbi Richard Levy challenges us to embrace the immigrant and undocumented among us today, with the loving-kindness of Ruth and Naomi.
Baruch Ata Adonai, Elohenu Melech ha-olam asher kidishanu b’mitzvotav vitzivanu al s’firat ha’omer. Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Ruler of the universe, who makes us holy with sacred actions and enjoins us to count the omer.
Hayom tishah v’arba-im yom, shehem shivah shavuot la-omer.
Today is 49 days which is 7 weeks of the Omer.
What is freedom in a world of obligation? Liberation in a religion of responsibility? As we move further from Pesach and closer to Shavuot, consider David Brooks’ ideas about how we are liberated, only to be bound.
Baruch Ata Adonai, Elohenu Melech ha-olam asher kidishanu b’mitzvotav vitzivanu al s’firat ha’omer. Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Ruler of the universe, who makes us holy with sacred actions and enjoins us to count the omer.
Hayom shloshah v’arba-im yom, shehem shishah shavuot v’yom echad la-omer.
Today is 43 days which is 6 weeks and 1 day of the Omer.
Today, as you count the Omer, think about the traditional Jewish idea of redemption (geulah) and how it applies in the world today. The 7th blessing of the amidah/t’fillah on weekdays asks God to redeem the captives among our people. Check out this great interview from the Colbert Report about how we can help redeem the Nigerian girls who were captured.
http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/2rgt3x/-bringbackourgirls—rosemary-nyirumbe
Baruch Ata Adonai, Elohenu Melech ha-olam asher kidishanu b’mitzvotav vitzivanu al s’firat ha’omer.
Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Ruler of the universe, who makes us holy with sacred actions and enjoins us to count the omer.
Hayom shiloshim yom, shehem arbah-ah shavuot u’shnai yamim la-omer.
Today is 30 days which are 4 weeks and 2 day of the Omer.
