Reconsecrating Your Covenant with Each Other, My Covenant with You

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 dictionary knows for joy.  And what a joy it is to celebrate the bond of love and commitment!  The conclusions of the final two of the blessings ask God to cause the couple to rejoice.  Traditionally text says chatan and kallah, groom and bride; we are a community that thankfully includes LGBTQ couples and so we make a change to: reh-im and ahuvim, two words for beloved.  If you listen closely, you will hear that in the 6th blessing, we ask God to cause one beloved and (in Hebrew v’) the other beloved, to rejoice together.  In the 7th blessing, we ask God to cause one beloved with (in Hebrew im) the other beloved to rejoice together.  By the time we reach the 7th blessing, the couple is not only one and the other, but one with the other, bound together in covenant.Continue reading

“Wimpel! Wrapped Wishes”– Discuss the Exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art

A wimpel is a traditional German-Jewish textile inscribed with prayers and wishes.  The wimpel was created in the first weeks of a child’s life and was used to celebrate the milestone of marriage.  For “Wimpel! Wrapped Wishes,” 12 artists, inspired by examples in the Obermayer Collection at RS, investigate, interpret and celebrate the wimpel.  One of the artists is our RS member, Leslie Sudock!  Join us on Thursday, December 17 for the opening discussion and reception at 6pm and then for the benefit supper at 7pm!  Thank you to currator, Matt Singer, and to PMJA Director Wendi Furman!