by mussar | Aug 31, 2021 | Newsletter, Notes From The Rabbi, September
The Teshuvah We Need Now By Rabbi Ira Stone At this season of Teshuvah, I‘m thinking about the destruction of millions of Africans stolen from their homelands, forced into chattel slavery for close to 250 years and kept in a state of semi-slavery, excluded by Jim Crow...
by mussar | May 13, 2021 | Notes From The Rabbi
There are some Torah stories that we don’t realize are Rabbinic in origin. When we discover they are not actually in the Torah, we can hardly believe it. For example, many people are convinced that the Torah includes the story of Abraham smashing the idols in his...
by mussar | Apr 27, 2021 | May, Newsletter, Notes From The Rabbi
In a few short weeks we will complete our metaphoric journey from Egypt on Pesach to Sinai on Shavuot. Just as we learned that the heart of the Haggadah is located in the injunction to actually experience the Exodus for ourselves through the ritual, so also the...
by mussar | Mar 9, 2021 | March, Newsletter, Notes From The Rabbi
As Pesach draws close, I reflect on the many different forms of slavery that still shackle our world. Some forms of slavery appear distant, other forms are near, integrated into our everyday experience. In the first category, perhaps I would place the ongoing shame of...
by mussar | Jan 8, 2021 | January, Newsletter, Notes From The Rabbi
I have always believed that the ideals of American democracy were a sure sign of the Infinite Source of Goodness in the Cosmos. The very fact that those ideals were articulated by very flawed human beings, people who sanctioned the genocide of the native population,...
by mussar | Dec 2, 2020 | December, Newsletter, Notes From The Rabbi
This year more than ever we await with great anticipation the beginning of the Festival of Lights. Chanukah, is a time for family, for celebrating freedom, and most of all, the miracle of light in our lives. This year our celebrations may be significantly curtailed,...
