Ashamnu, Bagadnu, gazalnu, dabarnu dophi …..

We beat our chests as we repeat this list of sins in our liturgy over and over again during Yom Kippur. It is an alef-bet listing of sins, said in the plural form, of things we might have done wrong. The rabbis felt that by reading the list collectively that no one would be embarrassed. By limited it to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alef-bet, the list would not go on and on. Still, there are years I want to rail against this. I am not that bad. Continue reading →

The back to school ads made me smile. I particularly like the ad that uses the sound clip from Free to Be You and Me, which I remember fondly from my youth. The song suggests that every person is valued for being who they are and that they can succeed as individuals. Even better is the one that uses the countdown to New Year’s and then kids excitedly run into the school building ready for the new academic year. These are much better than the ad a few years ago that used the Christmas song, “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” with parents gleefully shopping for school supplies and the kids dragging behind the cart. Continue reading →

I walked along the Merrimack on the trail behind my condo in Chelmsford. Everything was green, despite a dry, hot summer. The water level was higher than I expected. I’ve been thinking a lot about water this summer. Partly because of the oil spill in the Gulf and partly because I work at a mikveh, a Jewish ritual bath and partly, well, because I am just drawn to water. It’s a good season for it—give me a walk along the river, a swim in Freeman Lake or a trip to an ocean beach, and count me in! Water can calm, inspire, nurture and heal. It can help us feel close to the Divine as we discover its beauty, its vastness, its power and its majesty. It is both timeless and ever-changing. Understanding this, the rabbis placed a prayer about the beauty of creation right after the call to worship. Frankly, however, especially in the summer I would rather be outdoors by the water then sitting in a synagogue praying about it. Continue reading →

“This is the day that the Lord has made…let us rejoice and be glad in it.” I stand before you today with a full heart. One that is overflowing with joy, and tinged with sadness since my grandmother passed away one week ago today. She called to tell me she wasn’t coming to ordination, that she and my mother were proud of me and that I would make a great rabbi. More importantly, her outlook on life was always one of joy—even in the face of disappointment. Continue reading →

Margaret Frisch Klein, wrote this wrote this Divrei Torah on Passover, which the Academy for Jewish Religion published online, on the anniversary of her Bat Mitzvah and in celebration of her upcoming ordination at The Academy for Jewish Religion.

Psalm 81 is not what I would describe as a usual text to explore the meaning of gratitude, of being thankful. While it is part of the traditional liturgy, the matba’eh as the Psalm for Thursday; it doesn’t use any of those words like, give thanks. However, for me, it illustrates the Psalmist’s sense of thanksgiving and the awareness of the Divine Presence in a very powerful and personal way. Warning. This sermon contains violence. For some of you, this may be a difficult or uncomfortable dvar tefilah to hear. Continue reading →

What does this parsha, that we read every Rosh Hodesh have to do with us moderns? We who think that sacrifice today would be unpalatable—messy, dirty, noisy, smelly, not ecological? Dr. Nehemia Polen, in teaching Leviticus makes the point that what the Israelites were doing with their sacrifices was trying to recreate the pinnacle experience, pun intended, of Sinai. They were pushing the reset button. Remember at Sinai the mountain smoked, it quaked, there was fire and a pleasing odor. In the Israelites fear and trembling, they were privileged to experience the Divine. How many of us have stood on a mountain top, or watched the power of the sea and experienced the Divine and wanted to bottle that feeling, and bring it back with us into our every day lives. It isn’t easy. So this portion comes along to teach us something of how to do it. How to experience the Divine in our everyday lives. Continue reading →

Psalm 136 is a beautiful psalm with a repetition of the phrase ki l’olam chasdo, for God’s lovingkindness or mercy endures forever. It lists many examples of God’s lovingkindness, Creation, the Exodus from Egypt so that we see God as both Creator and Redeemer. Then in the present tense it says that God gives bread to all flesh. This verse gets reiterated in the Birkat Hamazon, the Grace After Meals. In my class this week on Shabbat liturgy, my professor, Dr. Sol Schimmel, asked what happens when reality does not seem to match the theology of the Psalm. There are many people who have a hard time with this verse, both in the psalm and in Birkat. How can we say that God gives food to all when there is so much hunger in the world? Some see it as a wish, a hope for the world can be. Although the verse is written as a praise of God because we are grateful for the food we do have, others see it really as a request, a prayer of petition without being so direct about the request. Let me suggest another idea. In truth, the world does have enough food but we human beings have yet to figure out a more equitable way to distribute it. As we close out Thanksgiving weekend, which celebrates an abundance of food, let us recommit to making sure that no family goes with out. Join me working at a soup kitchen, writing a check to Mazon, a Jewish response to hunger, donating non-perishables to food bank. Together we can make a difference and then the line from the Psalms will be more accurate–God DOES give food to all. Ken yehi ratzon, may it be God’s will.

Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dancing. And Miriam chanted for them, “Sing to the Lord, who has triumphed gloriously. Horse and rider were thrown into the sea.”

Such relief at escaping such danger. The gratitude is palpable and physical. They danced. They sang. They played their timbrels.  Often I play a game with children—sometimes even adults at the Passover seder. If you were leaving Egypt in haste—what would you take with you. I get the usual answers—food, water, sunscreen. It is the desert after all. My family, my stuffed animals, my dog, my GameBoy, camera, photos, books. No one has ever said timbrel—or frankly any musical instrument. But somehow these women knew, they took food, lamb and matzah baked in haste, their neighbors’ gold and their timbrels. They knew that out there in that desert there would be opportunities to celebrate, to rejoice, to be grateful. How did they know? Continue reading →

What, you didn’t call, you didn’t write.” We’ve all heard that stereotypical Jewish mother jokes. There is some truth in it. Mothers like to be called. I know. I am one. This year as we celebrate Mother’s Day, I wish that I still had a mother to call. You may not think that Mother’s Day is a Jewish holiday. However, the principles come directly from our Jewish tradition right from this week’s Torah portion. Continue reading →