We are a family that welcomes everyone who wants to proudly participate with us in spreading love, meaning and purpose to those who so choose.
Author: swimfast
The Power of Community
“The essence of the minyan is the reciprocity of the social contract – the shared obligation that binds all ten individuals to one another, transforming them from a number of individuals into a community.”
Our modern minyan causes us to create more than a congregation, it helps us to form community
We will long endure
For now we place our trust in ourselves, through vigilance and action. We remember every time we blot out Amalek’s name that we are still here. We are still here and the Greeks, Romans, Crusaders, Spanish Monarchy, Nazis, are no more. We blot out their memory but we never forget that we endured and will continue to endure and thrive.
The Arithmetic of Failure
Since the pandemic began, we have been a society fixated on numbers. First we were concerned about the raw numbers of people getting sick, and then hospitalized, and then those who have died from COVID. Looking at individual numbers are important for each of these represents a soul who has become sick, a person who…
The Breath of the Etrog
Today the sukkah reminds us of the fragility inherent in life. It is intended to be susceptible to the forces of nature, not to protect or separate us from them as we do with our permanent houses, but to remind us that we, too, are part of creation.
It’s OK not to be OK
It can be hard for us to admit that we are not OK. It can be harder still for us to admit that its OK not to be OK. And it can be even more difficult to seek help.
Let’s Eat Cantor!
Just like the Rambam teaches us to find layers of meaning in our unvocalized Torah, I pray that one day we too will find layers of meaning in our unvocalized year. Layers of grief, sadness and despair, combined with layers of love, perseverance, and triumph, layers of leadership, science, and wisdom, and, I pray, layers of hope.
Do not remain indifferent
It is not enough to simply say ‘Black Lives Matter,’ though it is an important first step. We must transform our world so that black lives do matter, in every corner of society. This transformation happens not in the streets, but within each of us, as we explore who we are and who we want to be, by examining how our society functions and how it could function. Jews know this transformation – we do it every year on Yom Kippur when we engage in chesbon hanefsh – when we examine our actions from the past year in order to be better in the next.
In spite of It All, I still Believe in Hope
Hope is an essential Jewish value that allows us embrace the possibility of a brighter future. We must always hold on to hope – hope in ourselves, hope in our community, hope in our country, and hope that one day our children will only know shalom, wholeness and peace.
The Power of Fire
We strike the match to the matchbook and from nothing a flame emerges and dances before us. Just like God we create – light appears where once there was none. We marvel at our creation as it quickly creeps toward our fingers – and then light not one but two wicks. Zachor v’shamor – remember…
Rabbi Brian Immerman 