Today is Tisha B’av. The saddest day on the Jewish calendar. Tradition teaches us that today both the First and Second Temple were destroyed.

Friday night, as is traditional for Shabbat, we took a break from mourning. We celebrated, we laughed and we cried. Temple Emanuel of the Merrimack Valley hosted a potluck dairy dinner and Shabbat service in honor of my husband Simon, my daughter Sarah, and me. We led the service, we shared memories, we ate yummy food. We have called Temple Emanuel an improbable community. That was evident on Friday. In the middle of the summer, over 80 people showed up. Jews from five or six congregations and differing levels of practice and observance, Catholics, Protestants, Muslims. Continue reading →

Every now and then I am struck by a little, simple moment. This week it was a tomato, fresh picked from the CSA. The house is a mess. Filled with boxes. A friend was over to pack. We ordered a pizza and made a salad. There is nothing like that first bite of a summer tomato. It drips with juice. It oozes flavor enhanced with just a pinch of salt. You can taste the sun and the earth. There is nothing quite like it and words do not do it justice. We paused. In the middle of packing and recited the Shehecheyanu—the prayer that thanks G-d for sustaining us and enabling us to reach this moment. Ah. Continue reading →

This Shabbat we mark Rosh Hodesh Av, the first of the new month of Av. It also marks the beginning of Ramadan this year. To my Muslim friends I say Mubarak Ramadan. May Ramadan be for a blessing. Both Muslims and Jews use this fasting to enrich their observances. Jews fast on Tisha B’av for 24 hours. Muslims fast each day from sunrise to sunset. Both Muslims and Jews say, “Whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.” Continue reading →

This past weekend we were privileged to attend two weddings. When I perform a wedding, I have the best view in the house, because I get to watch the couples’ smiles, their nervous laughter, and their deep love as they look into each others eyes. There is so much hope and optimism. It is one of the best parts of being a rabbi.

This weekend was no exception. Both brides looked beautiful, radiant. Both mothers had made handcrafted items, the first one the bride’s dress, the second one quilted centerpieces. Both ceremonies featured “Unity Candles”. Both used the same reading from the Ba’al Shem Tov, about light and couples coming together. Continue reading →

I knew there would be tears. I just didn’t know when. This past Friday night we celebrated perhaps the last Kabbalat Shabbat in our house. Our daughter has been gifting herself with flowers on Friday since she returned from New York. The table was set with beautiful pink roses she chose in Energizer Rabbi pink, and a white tablecloth. We were using beeswax candles that she had made Continue reading →

July 7th was my father’s birthday. He died in 1996 at age 63, far too young. I have been thinking about him all week. I wondered if he would be pleased that I am going back to Illinois to be a rabbi. I wondered what he would think about the new announcement from the physics world about finally seeing Higgs-Boson.

I remember fondly going with him to Northwestern Medical School to feed the sea urchins that were part of his research on olfactory. We would Continue reading →

It is with great joy that I announce that, like Abraham, I am about to embark on a new journey. I will be the new rabbi of Congregation Kneseth Israel (CKI) in Elgin, Illinois, just outside of Chicago. I start August 16th. Continue reading →

This week we read a portion from Numbers that included the scouts going into the land of Israel and coming back with a report. Ten of the scouts, sometimes called spies, made the land seem impossible. They were afraid. They said it couldn’t be done. The Israelites are murmuring. Maybe it would be better to go back to Egypt. Only two—Joshua and Caleb—thought otherwise; it was a good land, a land flowing with milk and honey. They had the courage to speak out. Continue reading →

Lately I have been thinking a lot about transitions. First my daughter graduated from college, and that is a big transition. Then I am leaving one job where parents were concerned about how to help their students transition from one rabbi to the next. And because I am leaving that job, I am in a state of transition as well. Last week I led two ceremonies of transition—one for my staff and school committee members. Continue reading →

Every now and then, as a rabbi, you get called on to do something important, something that helps make a difference in the lives of people who are living them, something that helps people conquer pain. I was privileged to do that recently. A friend of mine, who I admire and respect for her optimism, her strength, her commitment to Judaism, to youth, and to making the world a better place would be celebrating being cancer free for five years. Continue reading →