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!
April 1, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
There was a moment during this past Saturday's Cantor Showcase, there was a moment when I closed my eyes and the Cantor's voice filled them with tears. It wasn't just that she sang a beautiful piece, but that it was sung in our magnificent sanctuary. My tears reflected the sublime joy of the special kind of Judaism we experience in our shul.
So how do we create more moments like that? By coming together on a frequent basis to experience the joy of Judaism as a community. When we spend more time together we will inevitably think about, discuss, plan, and execute the kinds of programs that grow our shul. Programs like...
Passover "Shabbat" Seder on Saturday Evening at 5 pm
Category : Ari-archive Tag : adult education cantor showcase Cantorial Showcase Jewish muslim programming rabbi rabbi's journal shabbat by the sea weekly services
June 10, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
Over the past few years, our congregation has made some great strides in building the bonds and relationships that form the foundation of our tight knit Jewish Home for the Soul. Yet, as it has often been mentioned, if we're going to continue to thrive then we need to grow as a congregation. If we're going to continue to prosper, then we need to reach out to attract more people to be a part of our congregation.
So what does our approach to outreach look like? It looks like what's happening this week...
This past Saturday morning, we welcomed the Levy family, who are affiliated with Cantor Avima Darnov's hebrew school called "The Hebrew Corner," and their guests into our sanctuary[...]
Category : Ari-archive Tag : bar and bat mitzvah big tent judaism Cantorial Showcase hebrew corner Jewish Federation jewish outreach institute joi outreach rabbi rabbi's journal shabbat by the sea unaffiliated young people
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
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
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
April 1, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
When I arrived in our community, one of my first experiences was to head to New York to meet with Cantor David Levine z"l about our high holiday services. It was clear from that initial meeting on the streets of New York that Cantor Levine had a special love for cantorialhazzanut and a penetrating passion for expressing the powerful themes of cantorialhazzanut on the high holidays.
When his untimely death occurred only a few months after he graced our bimah for the last time, I knew that his legacy would live on in the minds, hearts, and spirits of the members of our congregation he touched with his music. Yet, as a congregation we have to do more than[...]
Category : Cantorial Showcase Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : cantor david levine cantor showcase Cantorial Showcase legacy passover rabbi rabbi's journal
By bethmordecai no comments.
