Congregation Beth Mordecai
Congregation Beth Mordecai
An inclusive congregation affiliated with the Conservative Movement.
Your Jewish Home for the Soul!
An inclusive congregation affiliated with the Conservative Movement.
Your Jewish Home for the Soul!
July 16, 2019 By Beth Mordecai no comments.
Cantor Dan Geigerman's participation this summer at our musical Shabbat by the Sea services has been supported by sponsoring members, but we have not covered all of our costs. Please consider a contribution to help bring him to our community one last time this summer, by clicking on the DONATE link below. We must raise over $200 to make this possible. Thank you to our incredibly generous members who have already donated and those who have sponsored our musical Shabbat services to date. Contribution for Guest Cantor
Category : Cantorial Showcase home Shabbat By The Sea
November 30, 2018 By Beth Mordecai no comments.
Cantorial Showcase at Beth Mordecai Friday, November 30, at 6:30 p.m. Catered dinner to follow ($30/person) Join us for a musical Shabbat experience that features Robby Wittner, a 4th year cantorial student at Hebrew Union College in New York City. Robby Wittner began singing formally in elementary school and continued to sing in choirs for many years. He graduated from Hamilton College with a major in microbiology and minors in music and religious studies. During his time in college, he studied with the opera great Jon Fredric West and continued his voice studies in Israel with Jay Shir, a student of Hans Hotter. RSVP to Elliot: OfficeBethMordecai@gmail.com or 732.442.1373
Category : Cantorial Showcase
June 3, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
*Sermon for Friday night of "Cantor Showcase of Unique Torah" (Shabbat prior to Shavuot) – May 30, 2014
Our Unique and Godly Torah
Rabbi Ari Saks
Some of you may remember a story my father told during my installation on this same bimah over a year and a half ago. I was a little boy in Benton Harbor and my father and I had just come back from shul on Simhat Torah. As we approached home I started making a frantic pointing motion in a not-so-specific direction (with the requisite grunting of a child). So my father, in attempting to respond my neediness, took me on a walk trying to follow my random pointing. Eventually we ended up back at shul where my pointing got[...]
Category : Bulletin Articles Cantorial Showcase Holidays home Rabbi Sermons Shabbat Shavuot Tag : bulletin articles Cantorial Showcase godly holidays neil gillman norman lamm pirkei avot potential rabbeinu yonah rabbi revelation sermons shabbat shavuot unique torah
May 30, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
Each of us has a journey, a path that takes us from one place to another but, like the Israelites through the desert, that path is often more circuitous than straight. Why? Why can't our journeys be straight and direct? Perhaps because though circuitous every stop is purposeful, full of meaning. The people we meet, the places we visit, the food we eat, every experience of life has something to teach us so that at the end of that convulated journey we become the people we are meant to be. And when we see make meaning of each of those experiences, when we tie our Unique Stories into the greater meaning of life -- God, Judaism, eternity, faith --[...]
Category : Cantorial Showcase Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : Cantorial Showcase history Jewish scientists jose lopez journey pictures rabbi rabbi's journal story unique stories unique torah
May 28, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
(5/28/14) Torah is more than just the stories of our ancestors or the stories of our tradition. Torah is made up of the stories of our lives. Each day we wake up and add another verse, hoping that the story we are creating has lasting value and impact. One of the ways to make our stories have lasting value is to connect them and see them in the context of the values and teachings within the eternal Torah of our people. That's the intersection comprising our Unique Torah, where the Torah of our lives meets with the Torah of our tradition to become a Lasting Teaching, a teaching that emanates from our hearts and resonates throughout history. On Friday Night, we will have an[...]
Category : Cantorial Showcase Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : billy joel Cantorial Showcase hashkivenu lives rabbi rabbi's journal songs tradition unique torah השכיבנו
May 27, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
Last week I talked about how the growth of our community can be seen in our ability to run multiple programs during the weekend. This weekend provides another opportunity for us to display that growth with our Cantor Showcase (Friday 8 pm), Scholar-In-Residence (Saturday 11 am) and Annual Congregational Meeting (Sunday 10 am).
But why should you come out to these events? What's their value to you as an individual and to us as a community?
Over the course of the week I will be sharing individual journal entries about each of these particular programs and events to explain how they represent some of the most exciting and important values of our community. But in the meantime,[...]
Category : Adult Education Cantorial Showcase Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : adult education apple Cantorial Showcase community rabbi rabbi's journal scholar in residence unique torah value your verse
May 20, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
Join us for this very special weekend as we celebrate the unique Torah of singing, stories, and science! Please click on link below for more details... Special-Weekend-of-Unique-Torah (1)
Category : Cantorial Showcase
April 13, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
For anyone who has stepped foot in our sanctuary, you know how it was built to showcase music that would lift up your soul to reach the highest reaches of heaven. While we aren't able to replicate the frequency in which this feat was accomplished in the past, it is moving to have a taste of that kind of spiritual experience when we are able to on occasion.
Over the past year and a half we have actively sought out to bring that kind of music back into our sanctuary through our Cantor Showcase program. In partnering with the Cantorial School of the Jewish Theological Seminary we have had the pleasure of welcoming three outstanding cantorial students to grace our sanctuary with[...]
Category : Cantorial Showcase Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : Cantor Rachel Brook Cantorial Showcase Jewish Theological Seminary rabbi rabbi's journal
By bethmordecai no comments.
Faith in Words
Sermon for Shabbat Hagadol (April 12th 2014)
Rabbi Ari Saks
Congregation Beth Mordecai
Once there was a king who ruled many kingdoms, yet no matter how much wealth he amassed, no matter how many people he helped, he never felt at peace. His mind raced in so many different directions he could never feel as if he was in the right place at the right time. When he was sad he wanted to be happy, and for some reason when he was happy, he wanted to be sad. Well, he thought, if my mind is never at peace then neither should my kingdom. So he set about making every part of his kingdom the opposite of what it should be –[...]
Category : Cantorial Showcase home Passover Rabbi Sermons Shabbat Tag : capacity community high holidays Interfaith Center of Greater Philadelphia mission passover rabbi rabbi david wolpe Rabbi Ezekiel Landau Reverend Nicole Diroff Rosh Hashanah sacrifices sermons shabbat words Yom Kippur
April 2, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
Today I will be headed into New York to meet with our cantor for the Cantor Showcase, some members of our Homecoming team, and a colleague who can provide some insight on ways to grow our community. Playing off of the wild success of sharing pictures of our Homecoming on Facebook that has generated many "likes" and "comments," I'll be "journaling" my experience in New York today via our Facebook page along with some short running commentary. Feel free to check www.facebook.com/CongregationBethMordecai throughout the day to see some of the latest pictures and share some of your thoughts on how to take our next steps to grow our striving Jewish Home for the Soul.
Kol Tuv,
Rabbi Ari Saks
P.S. For more commentary on today's meetings you can follow[...]
Category : Cantorial Showcase Homecoming Weekend Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : cantor showcase Cantorial Showcase community building facebook homecoming weekend pictures rabbi rabbi's journal
