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!
January 3, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel writes that Shabbat is a palace in time, a physical abode for the spirit in the hidden reality of time. In short, it's the home for our souls to feel safe and secure from the ravages of the world. This security is not brought on by by being surrounded by the creature comforts of physical things, but by being immersed in the aura of the spiritual realm in which our souls experience the light of God's love for all of creation. That godly light, which our souls transfer to our temporal bodies on moments like Shabbat, not only remind us of God's watchful presence in our lives but helps us experience God in a personal, intimate, and[...]
Category : Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Shabbat Tag : abraham joshua heschel God light palace in time rabbi rabbi's journal shabbat message spirit
January 2, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
There are experiences that leave you breathless in a good way -- getting a job, having a baby, celebrating a simhah -- the seminal moments in your life that you'll not only never forget, but leave you grateful and changed for the better.
Then there are experiences that are unforgettable and leave you breathless...in a bad way; the moments you'll never forget and never wished you had. And while ALL OF US ARE OK AND HEALTHY, Rachel, myself, and our little Jonah experienced one of those moments yesterday.
We were driving normally on the Turnpike to visit Rachel's parents for New Year's Day when all of a sudden we got hit hard by a car from behind us. Our excellent and safe car responded by skidding and[...]
Category : Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : accident gomel rabbi rabbi's journal
December 31, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
Over the past two months, a small group of us have discussed plans for an adult education program for our community and out of that process has emerged two distinct themes: stories and shtickle.
First, stories. To anyone who has come to Friday night services or read some of my journals (like this one or that one), you'll know that stories are an important aspect of my rabbinate. Not only is storytelling one of the most effective ways of communicating ideas, especially in our culture which has a storied oral tradition, but it also provides an access point for us to share the Unique Torah we've accumulated from our life experiences. And by sharing those stories to access our Unique Torah, we create[...]
Category : Adult Education Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : adult education rabbi rabbi's journal shtickle stories storytelling unique torah
December 30, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
This is one of my favorite times of the year, and not just because it is the beginning of a new year, but because as an avid football fan it is the beginning of the playoffs of the National Football League as well as Bowl season (which is another type of playoff) for college football. I feel especially joyous because yesterday my favorite football team, thePhiladelphia Eagles, clinched an unlikely spot in the playoffs. The next few weeks will be full of anticipation and excitement as the Eagles, along with 11 other franchises (and their fan bases) vie for a spot in the most widely watched sporting event for the year -- the Super[...]
Category : Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Rubber Duck Race Tag : football new years rabbi rabbi's journal rubber duck race sports teshuvah tshuvah
December 24, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
Tonight we celebrate a unique and (very) American Jewish tradition of Chinese food and a movie on Christmas Eve. While this holiday may not be on the same spiritual level as some of those that have been described in the Bible, the Festive Meal of Chopsticks has inspired it's own Talmud tractate (section), which among other details explains how the extra container of rice is set aside for Elijah the Prophet.
In all seriousness though, tonight's festivities speak to the creative Jewish spirit to forge new traditions and pathways for expressing our Jewishness. It's a simple activity -- dinner and a movie -- but many of our well known rituals (like lighting candles, breaking a[...]
Category : Events Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : chinese dinner and a movie christmas rabbi rabbi's journal
December 20, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
Yesterday, I had the honor of officiating at the funeral for Mike Seidel z"l, a past President of Beth Mordecai. It's moments like these that remind me how grateful I am to be your rabbi -- to learn about Mike's humility, perseverance, and love of service (especially as President of Beth Mordecai), and to share some of those stories with his family in the hope that by couching them in Jewish language these stories and anecdotes from Mike's life will help them cope with his passing. I am also grateful for our Jewish tradition that is full of timeless wisdom on how to treat a person on the last stage of life's journey and how to ease family members[...]
Category : Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : death funeral mike seidel names rabbi rabbi's journal shabbat message
December 18, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
Last Friday night, I told a story about a Jewish man from Prague who goes to Vienna to find a treasure that he sees in his dreams. Once he gets to Vienna he is told, in a roundabout way, that the treasure he was looking for was under his house in Prague all along. Yet, if it wasn't for the man's trip out of his home, he would never have discovered the treasure in his home. I used this story as a launching pad to talk about the "treasure" of Beth Mordecai, the special-something inside our congregation that we sometimes have to discover by going outside our walls, like the Rubber Duck Race at the YMCA.
Yet no matter where these experiences take place, many of us have experienced a[...]
Category : Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : board of trustees leadership rabbi's journal
December 17, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
Today we celebrate our unity.
Today we honor our diversity.
Today we glorify the beauty of Klal Yisrael (people of Israel)
- Day 295: Klal Yisrael
Dear Hevreh,
I shared the words written above last Spring when four Jewish institutions in northern Middlesex County -- Beth Mordecai, Neve Shalom, Temple Emanu-El, and the JCC -- came together to work on a program to celebrate our love for the Jewish homeland of Israel. I return to these words because this Sunday from 9 am -- 12 pm we have another opportunity to experience the glory of Klal Yisrael with an amazing Bible Family Fun Day program which we are co-sponsoring with the other three northern Jewish Middlesex institutions and Middlesex Federation and the Conservative[...]
Category : Middlesex Jewish News Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : cantor showcase israel event klal yisrael middlesex jewish news one jewish people programs rabbi rabbi's journal unity white out friday night
December 12, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
*Note: This message is longer than usual
אם רוצה לבשלן יחד ואין שם ס' מותר (יורה דעה קט:ב)
If you want to cook together two different kinds of food [that are generally forbidden from one another], and one of the kinds of food is less than 1/60th of the other kind, then the mixture is allowed (Yoreh Deah 98:2)
Dear Hevreh,
Outside of observing Shabbat, there is probably no greater indicator of Jewish religious observance than keeping kosher (shomer kashrut). Yet even more than simply religious observance, the act of keeping kosher in some capacity indicates our cultural attachment to Judaism. For instance, one person I spoke to recently says "I eat bacon, but I don't eat ham because that's what my father taught[...]
Category : Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Ritual Practice Tag : kashrut kosher rabbi rabbi's journal ritual practice shulkhan arukh
December 11, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
No need for words. These pictures show it all.
Check our Facebook page tomorrow after 11 am for some more wonderful pictures of the duck race and please make sure to send more to me to post on your behalf!
Kol Tuv,
Rabbi Ari Saks
Pictures -- ducks
Category : Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Rubber Duck Race Tag : rabbi rabbi's journal rubber duck race