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!
February 14, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
(2/14/14)
One year after college while I was working at Park Avenue Synagogue as a Torah reader, the leadership of the synagogue decided to celebrate the dedication of their new Torah by bringing in Jewish singer/songwriter Craig Taubman, who created a highly successful "rock concert-like" Friday night service in Los Angeles known as Friday Night Live. I remember attending the event and feeling a powerful energy emanating from the music, the crowd, and the spirit of the evening. I could see why this event, which happens on a regular basis in LA, is called "Friday Night Live" - because it makes Friday night comealive.
Perhaps one day we will be able to bring Craig Taubman or a similar performer to[...]
Category : Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Shabbat White Out Friday Night Tag : craig taubman friday night live park avenue synagogue rabbi rabbi's journal shabbat shabbat message white out friday night
February 7, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
In just a few days many of you will be receiving a thick envelope in the mail from the congregation, if you haven't already. This envelope is not your ordinary shul reminder. It does not contain a bill or a yahrtzeit letter or even a thank you note. No, this envelope constitutes a promise to remember where we came from as we move towards where we are going.
See, this envelope contains all of the information you will need about our upcoming Homecoming Weekend on March 14-16, including highlights (like our Schmooze Cruise and Brunch with Rabbis Barry Dov Schwartz and Melinda Zalma), scheduling, and registration forms. But more importantly, embedded within all of these details is the desire to bring our past closer to our present[...]
Category : Family Shabbat Homecoming Weekend Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Shabbat Tag : future homecoming week letters past present rabbi rabbi's journal shabbat
January 31, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
(1/31/14)
As we enter into another Shabbat, another opportunity to spend time together and learn together in community, I want to share a simple thought from the Talmud about the meaning of community:
אין התורה נקנית אלא בחבורה (ברכות סג:)
Eyn ha-Torah nikneit ela b'havurah (B'rakhot 63b)
The knowledge of Torah can only be acquired in a community (Tractate B'rakhot 63b)
There is something unique about the knowledge and secrets embedded in the Torah that, according to this teaching, they can only be revealed when we learn it together. Yes, learning Torah is a fascinating intellectual exercise for the individual, but it becomes something more, something larger, when we open ourselves to hearing the interpretations of other lovers of Torah. And if Torah learning is the foundation[...]
Category : Homecoming Weekend Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Shabbat Tag : community homecoming weekend rabbi rabbi's journal shabbat message torah unique torah
January 24, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
One of the things I love about our Friday Night service is that in the midst of all the praying and teaching, we take a moment to check in with each other to see how our week has been. I love it because it gives us a chance to be reflective when most of the week we are too active to fully appreciate and realize what we are doing.
It's pretty normal to not find time during the week to be reflective. Just ask God. On occasion God reflected during creation that what God created that day "was good," but it wasn't until the end of the sixth day - Friday night - that God looked back "on all that[...]
Category : Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Shabbat Tag : rabbi rabbi's journal reflection shabbat shabbat message
January 10, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
I have one thought to leave you today. Shabbat is good, so let's share in all of the goodness of Shabbat tonight at shul!
And to kick off the sharing of that goodness...enjoy this song by the great Shlomo Carlebach which we will sing tonight!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Ari Saks
Photo courtesy of http://www.vosizneias.com/post/read/41137/2009/11/03/new-york-yahrzeit-vin-exclusive-the-man-who-never-died-r-shlomo-carlebach-zl-interview-with-neshama-photos-music-video
Category : Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Shabbat Tag : rabbi rabbi's journal shabbat shlomo carlebach
January 6, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
There are many purposes for being a part of a Jewish community -- to build a social network of friends, to have a place to celebrate and honor lifecycle events, to learn about and experience the wisdom of Judaism, and to experience a connection with God among others. All of these purposes were on display this past Shabbat morning as more than 20 members of our extended community us braved the cold and the snow to help Rachel and I bentsch gomel after last week's accident. As Rachel shared with me later, more significant than the act of reciting gomel is the community that came out to make sure that we could recite gomel. It was a special feeling[...]
Category : Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Shabbat Tag : community gomel kiddush purpose rabbi rabbi's journal shabbat simhah yahrtzeit
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
December 6, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh, I have yet to fully experience it as a father, but I've heard that there is nothing like the joy of a kid playing with his or her rubber duck in a bathtub. If you need any proof of this, just askErnie from Sesame Street. The smile that lights up on a child's face as their little toy floats on this incredible source of life substance we call "water" is priceless. In fact, it is probably the echo of this joy that inspired the popularity of Rubber Duck Race fundraisers like ours on Sunday beginning around 3 pm at the YMCA of Raritan Bay (357 New Brunswick Avenue). Rubber Ducks and water just go really well together. We'll[...]
Category : Rabbi's Journal Rubber Duck Race Shabbat Tag : bathtub ernie family shabbat nelson mandela rabbi's journal rubber duck race sesame street shabbat water ymca
November 15, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
"In a situation like this, nothing is fast enough. The need is massive, the need is immediate, and you can't reach everyone."- Max Roxas, Interior Secretary of the Phillipines "The international community needs to resist the urge of the savior syndrome, to come in and think they can duplicate the structures [of aid], can do better, can do without the government [of the Phillipines], because that will only worsen the response."- Sara Pantuliano, Head of the Humanitarian Policy Group at the Overseas Development Institute "A time of disaster is a time to help others. It is not a time to think only of self and forget others. It is a time to console and embrace our neighbors. It[...]
Category : Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Shabbat Tag : care caring haiyan lo alekha hamlakha ligmor pirkei avot rabbi's journal shabbat message typhoon לא עליך המלאכה לגמור פרקי אבות
November 14, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh, As some of you may have already seen on Facebook, the synagogue has renewed my contract which means that I will continue to be your rabbi for at least the next 2-3 years (and hopefully longer!). Rachel and I are both very excited about staying here at Beth Mordecai and in Perth Amboy, primarily because the community has embraced us with open arms. From the services to the parties and all of the special events that bring us together, our kehillah, our community, makes us feel right at home. The word kehillah is so important. It comes from the root k-h-l meaning "gather" or "congregate." In other words, the heart of what makes a community a community is[...]
Category : Rabbi's Journal Shabbat Uncategorized Tag : kehillah kiddush rabbi's journal shabbat