December 23, 2022 On Wednesday night, on the fourth night of Hanukkah, the balance of light and not-yet-light shifted, as we reached the halfway point of the holiday. So, too, the balance of day and night shifted with the winter solstice on Wednesday night. What an amazing alignment, as the light grows, inviting us to …
There’s this refrigerator out on the street between the coffee shop and the ice cream shop. The idea is for people to put what they can into the refrigerator and for people to take what they need from the refrigerator. Honor system. Nobody checks to see if you actually need some …
This Shabbat we complete the third book of Torah, the book of Leviticus, with parashat Bechukotai. After being told the rewards that they will receive if they follow God’s laws and faithfully observe God’s commandments, God tells the Israelites: But if you do not obey Me and do not observe all these commandments, if you …
Rabbi Audrey Marcus Berkman The sky was bright blue as it often is somehow when somewhere someway death interrupts: The shock of someplace something awful but not here but yes, here: I feel it pulsing just under my skin if I close my eyes because anyway the sky is too bright the sun is too …
Rabbi Daniel Schaefer Shabbat Shalom. A special welcome to our guests from Milwaukee. I apologize in advance for my topic this evening. As I approach the end of my tenure at Ohabei Shalom, I have been reflecting on my four years with this wonderful community. It has been a great privilege to serve this Temple …
TOS was fortunate to recently have 2 speaking events following Friday night Shabbat services. On February 4th, the TOS Brotherhood’s Ben Adler Health Initiative featured Dr. Sharon Levine. Sharon A. Levine, M.D. is the Section Head for Geriatrics in the Division of Palliative Care and General Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. A nationally known expert in geriatrics …
Dear Temple Ohabei Shalom community, I write to you with relief and immense gratitude that Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker and members of Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas were reunited with their loved ones last night after being held hostage at the synagogue by a terrorist who entered while they were livestreaming their Shabbat morning service. …
Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti, at least 684,000 people are in urgent need of assistance. IsraAID’s emergency response team is currently on the ground, distributing vital relief items and providing psychological first aid. Like Haiti, vulnerable communities around the world are severely impacted by ongoing and new emergencies. Many of IsraAID’s beneficiaries have faced …
American Jewish World Service (AJWS) has an online campaign to send contributions to help the people of Haiti. www.ajws.org The Ayiti Community Trust is a Haitian-led relief organization. https://ayiticommunitytrust.org/ HIAS has multiple actions that individuals and communities can take to help people in peril in Afghanistan and to support refugees coming to the US. https://www.hias.org/crisis-afghanistan-how-you-can-help …
