‘Shavuot’ Category

Shavuot

May 20, 2018
By Beth Mordecai
no comments.

Each Day Counts

This week we begin reading the book of Bamidbar or Numbers in the Torah.  The second verse of the portion includes God’s commandment to Moses to count the number of families traveling in the desert.  The medieval, French commentator, Rashi tells us that God wished to count the children of Israel often because we are so dear to Him.  With each counting, God was able to acknowledge each person or family. Perhaps this is similar to a teacher constantly counting children on a field trip.  The teacher looks to each child with care and makes sure no one is missing. This Saturday night, we will celebrate the holiday of Shavuot.  We have been counting every day from Passover to Shavuot.  Tonight[...]

Category : Omer Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Shavuot

Shavuot

June 6, 2014
By bethmordecai
no comments.

DAY 706: Busying Ourselves With Torah

Dear Hevreh, As we come out of a holiday full of meaningful Torah learning, I am reminded that no matter how enjoyable, how meaningful, or how special Torah learning can be it is not always easy to find the time to continue our learning. The blessing we are supposed to recite before learning Torah -- Barukh Attah Adonai Eloheinu Melekh Ha-Olam Asher Kid'shanu B'mitzvotav V'tzivanu La-asok B'divrei Torah (Blessed Are You God King of the Universe Who Has Sanctified Us with Your Commandments and Commanded Us To Busy Ourselves With the Words of Torah) -- teaches us that like any business or occupation, Torah learning needs our time and effort. Yet, how often do we actually busy ourselves with Torah? If we're[...]

Category : Bar and Bat Mitzvah Bar Mitzvah Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Shabbat Shavuot
Tag :

Shavuot

June 3, 2014
By bethmordecai
no comments.

DAY 703: Revealing God’s Torah — Celebrating Shavuot

Dear Hevreh, During this past Shabbat and Annual Meeting, I shared my philosophy of Unique Torah -- how the Unique Stories of our lives can turn into the teachings of our Unique Torah when we share it and connect it so something greater than ourselves. This philosophy is not only predicated on expanding the definition of "Torah" from the Torah read on the bimah to the Torah (i.e. teachings) we learn from our relationships and our personal experiences of life, but also to seeing this expanded definition of Torah as having the potential to be exalted, godly, and divine, as if it was also revealed by God at Mt. Sinai. As such, our celebration of Shavuot, in which we recall how[...]

Category : Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Shavuot
Tag :

Shavuot


By bethmordecai
no comments.

Counting the Omer — Day 49: Indwelling Presence (מלכות/שכינה) within Indwelling Presence (מלכות/שכינה)

Day 49 -- מלכות/שכינה שבמלכות/שכינה (Indwelling Presence within Indwelling Presence) Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote beautifully on revelation: "The nature of revelation, being an event in the realm of the ineffable is something which words cannot spell, which human language will never be able to portray. Our categories are not applicable to that which is both within and beyond the realm of matter and mind. In speaking about revelation, the more descriptive the terms, the less adequate is the description. "Revelation is a mystery for which reason has no concepts. "Collecting the memories of the sparks of illuminations we have perceived, the installments of insight that have been bestowed upon us through the years, we will find it impossible to remain certain of the impossibility of revelation." Today[...]

Category : Omer Online Learning Shavuot
Tag :

Shavuot


By bethmordecai
no comments.

Sermon for Cantor Showcase of Unique Torah — Our Unique and Godly Torah

*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 :

Shavuot

September 12, 2013
By bethmordecai
no comments.

Emphasizing the First Day; Reimagining the Second Day — A plan for our synagogue observance of the Jewish Holidays (High Holidays 5774)

Rabbi Ari Saks Congregation Beth Mordecai High Holidays Bulletin Article, 5774 Last Friday, for the second day of Rosh Hashanah, we had a special and unique High Holiday experience that was not the normal, traditional service. The order of the service was different, there was no Torah service, and we had opportunities for discussion and some dancing, in addition to some other innovative methods used to enhance our Rosh Hashanah experience. Overall, the feedback has been that it was a fun and meaningful service. Yet the service would never have been possible if it were not for a combination of a unique quirk of the Jewish calendar and the unique customs in which we observe our holidays. The unique quirk of the Jewish calendar is the existence[...]

Category : Bulletin Articles Passover Rabbi Rosh Hashanah Sh'mini Atzeret Shavuot Simhat Torah Sukkot Yom Kippur
Tag :