A Heartfelt Mishebeirach for Our Times
04/02/2020 06:22:27 PM
With COVID illnesses sweeping the world, I’ve been hearing Cantor Randall Schloss’s beautiful setting of Mishebeirach in my head lately. Here’s a recording of me playing and singing it. I know our family is going to include it somehow in our virtual seder.
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A Message From Rabbi Berkman: Passover Wisdom and Resources for an Unprecedented Time
04/01/2020 01:02:01 PM
Dear TOS Community,
Needless to say, this coming Seder night will certainly be different from all other Seder nights! As we settle into this “new normal” of staying at home and connecting in new virtual ways, the Passover holiday approaches. With all of its traditions handed down...Read more... Music for Passover: Adir Hu
03/27/2020 02:05:20 AM
Music has always been a big part of all celebratory Jewish meals, and no meal is more important in our tradition than the Passover Seder. (…although some might advocate for the Yom Kippur break-fast!)
Songs sung at the dinner table are called Zemirot, and Passover has many –...Read more...
Connect @Ohabei Update 3.20.20
03/20/2020 04:33:16 PM
Dear Friends,
I imagine that for all of us it feels that months, rather than a week, has passed since we entered into this strange and isolating time. Time has certainly taken on a different meaning as our everyday lives have been transformed. Of course, that transformation looks different for each of us: perhaps we are home with children, trying to balance working from home and meeting the needs of the family...Read more...
Update as of 3/13/2020
03/13/2020 02:04:18 PM
A Message from Rabbi Berkman: Drawing Upon Jewish Tradition for Wisdom and Hope in Challenging Times
03/12/2020 02:13:47 PM
Dear Friends,
This is a time of great uncertainty and fear. It is also a time of communal celebration, such as the Purim festivities we enjoyed earlier this week, and looking ahead to the joy of Passover, less than a month from now. To be a Jew is to be connected to community both in the present moment and through the...Read more...
Shabbat Message from Rabbi Schaefer
03/06/2020 05:49:18 PM
Shabbat Shalom.
That is a very Jewish way to greet each other - wishing each other a peaceful Shabbat. I’ve been thinking a lot about how we greet each other over the last couple of days as the spread of COVID-19 has dominated the news and we think about how to keep everyone in our community safe and healthy. I’ve grown used to not only saying, Shabbat Shalom, but also greeting so many of you with a handshake or a kiss...Read more...
A Message from Rabbi Berkman
03/03/2020 03:24:35 PM
Jewish tradition teaches us that we are all responsible for one another. Kol Yisrael Arevim zeh ba’zeh, our sages taught in the Talmud. The Hebrew “arevim” literally means “mixed up together.” Our interconnectedness becomes even more apparent during a time of an outbreak of disease. During a time when a new virus is going around, and can have a dangerous impact on some people, this idea is so important to keep in mind. While we may...Read more...
Health Update: Coronavirus (COVID-19)
03/02/2020 01:05:43 PM
Dear Families,
We are reaching out to you today to give you an update on the precautions that we are using here at Temple Ohabei Shalom to...Read more...
From Rabbi Berkman:The World Zionist Elections: What do they mean; how can you participate?
02/14/2020 12:09:34 PM
The World Zionist Elections are in process and people can still vote until March 11th. For a Reform perspective, read this article: Everyone Counts: Why the WZO Elections Matter So Much.
You can vote at www.arza.org. You will find a voting tutorial here. (Please be advised that the dual-pin system may be changing to reCAPTCHA technology in the coming days. It is still a two-pronged process for security reasons). You are also welcome...Read more...
Social Action at Temple Ohabei Shalom:News & Events: February 2020
02/03/2020 08:03:47 AM
TOS Kallah 2020: A Communal and Spiritual Experience
01/30/2020 08:26:20 AM
This was the 5th Kallah my husband, Roger, and I participated in. We joined TOS 6 years ago, having been members of a large, reform synagogue in Boston for 30 plus years. After retiring from my full-time job, I felt the need for a smaller religious community. We looked around and decided on...Read more...
Alert: Potential Scam/Phishing Emails
01/23/2020 12:30:55 PM
Dear TOS Community,
We have learned that some people received an erroneous email from someone pretending to be “Rabbi Berkman” yesterday. If you receive an email that looks as though it comes from Rabbi Berkman and asks you to help her by purchasing gift cards, please do not respond. (No gift cards please!) Just delete the email, and ignore it.
Thanks to the many people who contacted Rabbi Berkman or the TOS office about...Read more...
Social Action at Temple Ohabei Shalom: January News
01/06/2020 02:58:14 PM
Social Action at Temple Ohabei Shalom
News and Events: January 2020
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A Message from Rabbi Berkman in Response to Recent Antisemitic Incidents
12/30/2019 01:25:03 PM
Dear Friends,
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Hanukkah: Honoring the Work We've Done
12/20/2019 01:44:38 PM
Hanukkah means dedication. The name for this festival comes from the actions of the Maccabees after they defeated the Greeks. After finding the temple in ruins, the Maccabees clean it up and rededicate the temple by lighting the menorah.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the...Read more...
Building an Inclusive Community
12/09/2019 01:20:14 PM
Last
night I had the privilege of attending an event with members of our synagogue inclusion committee and the Ruderman Synagogue Inclusion Project. The Ruderman Foundation has supported our inclusion work here at TOS and they've recently expanded their inclusion work to mental...Read more...
Rabbi Berkman as Guest DJ
11/19/2019 01:06:17 PM
This past Sunday, Rabbi Berkman had the chance to guest DJ for Chagigah, the WERS radio station featuring Jewish music and culture. Want to hear her guest spot? Listen below...
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Dvar Torah - Parashat Bereishit: In honor of this #ShowUpForShabbat, on the one-year anniversary of the attack on the Tree of Life synagogue
10/25/2019 01:26:18 PM
Thank you for “showing up for Shabbat” tonight. To mindfully mark time and to notice where we are now in relation to where we have been, and where we hope to go - that is a distinctively Jewish act....Read more...
Acting Executive Director & Education Director: The Role of a Lifetime
10/22/2019 06:41:48 PM
When I watched the Emmy’s a few weeks ago, I was struck by all of the thank-you’s. Every actor, writer, director, costume designer – their first reaction was to say thank you to everyone who supported them along the way. It was clear that none of them could have achieved their success without a...Read more...
Learning the Lessons of History - Yom Kippur 5780
10/10/2019 09:14:15 AM
Rabbi Daniel Schaefer - Delivered Yom Kippur 5780
In high school, I had three amazing teachers - Mr. DeBischop, Mr. Navage, and Mr. Satler, who inspired in me a love of history and changed the direction of my professional ambitions. I was fascinated by the stories of great...Read more...
High Holy Days with Children at TOS
10/03/2019 01:30:10 PM
Yom Kippur.
Often the last thing on our mind, as we prepare our homes and ourselves for this holy day, is preparing our children. And the thing is—Yom Kippur services are different from traditional Shabbat services at TOS. Having a quick conversation (or two) with our...Read more...
Erev Rosh Hashanah 5780
09/29/2019 08:00:00 PM
Rabbi Daniel Schaefer
Shana tovah. Two rabbis walk into a bar. One rabbi says:
The world was created in the fall in the month of Tishrei. In Tishrei the Patriarchs were born; in Tishrei the Patriarchs died; on Passover Isaac was born; on Rosh HaShana Sarah, Rachel, and...Read more...
On Tisha B'Av We Remember & Mourn
08/09/2019 11:31:57 PM
We are approaching the end of the three weeks, a period of time that culminates tomorrow night with the arrival of Tisha B’Av, a day of mourning. I’m incredibly grateful that Judaism sets aside sacred time for us to be sad, to feel down, and to get in touch with despair. These are emotions that we often push away because we feel obligated to be happy, distract ourselves with the busyness of life, or just...Read more...
A Message from Rabbi Berkman
11/16/2018 11:29:03 AM
Dear Friends,
Across the country, many thousands of our Jewish sisters and brothers are experiencing the horror of having lost loved ones, homes, businesses, and several Jewish institutions including camps and a Jewish day school. (See this article for more information on the impact on the Jewish...Read more...
A letter of gratitude from Rabbi Audrey Marcus Berkman
11/06/2018 07:26:03 PM
Dear TOS Community,
I am filled with gratitude for the many blessings of last Friday evening’s Installation, when we marked the official start...Read more...
Installation Remarks
11/02/2018 04:00:00 PM
My already-beloved community, cherished family, friends, colleagues: How very humbling to be called to the leadership of this kehilla kedoshah, this holy community, at this moment in history. It is not an easy moment - it is arguably the most challenging and shocking time for American Jews in many decades,...Read more...
Thu, April 2 2020
8 Nisan 5780
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About Ohabei Shalom
Progressive in attitude yet traditional in practice, Temple Ohabei Shalom is an inclusive Jewish community committed to nurturing, sustaining, and touching Jewish lives through lifelong learning, joyful worship, and repair of the world in word and deed.
