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 13, 2014 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
March 17, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
(3/17/14)
Wow.
How can one put into words the feelings from this past Homecoming weekend? Amazing. Inspirational. Energizing. Incredible. Maybe, but even those superlatives don't tell the story of the power of our extended Beth Mordecai community. It's an indescribable and sublime feeling to adequately articulate what this weekend meant or what it did for our community. What word can sum up the connections made between members and present? What description can articulate looking out at a vibrant and present community on Friday night? What expression can adequately summarize the love, connection, and friendship we shared on the cruise? Really there is no word, but if there is any word which can describe the lack of an adequate vocabulary, it would be[...]
Category : Homecoming Weekend Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : beth mordecai extended community community homecoming weekend rabbi rabbi's journal we are beth mordecai wow
March 12, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
(3/14/14)
The Top 5 Reasons I'm Excited for Homecoming continues...
#4 -- Outlining a Vision
Ever since I arrived at Beth Mordecai I've heard of these wonderful stories about the Jewish life that used to be here. I've also heard some remarkable stories from people who aremaking a Jewish home at Beth Mordecai. The past and the present, separated by generations and by memories. What would it look like though to bring our past and our present together? Is there a shared bond based in our different experiences in this holy space to create a united, diverse, and extended Beth Mordecai community? I think there is; I think there is a bond waiting to be made that will create a far reaching, united, and meaningful[...]
Category : Homecoming Weekend Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : community homecoming weekend past present rabbi rabbi's journal united vision
March 6, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
One of the benefits of being the rabbi in our community is being able to help facilitate and offer opportunities for the teaching of Torah by members of our congregation, such as Sharon Bender, Gary Blog, Harriet Pearlman, and most recently Marc Fertik who delivered the D'var Torah this past week while I was away in Scranton. These moments are especially beneficial for me because at times I can get very caught up in my own "rabbinic mind" of how to interpret and teach Jewish wisdom and hearing interpretations of Torah from new voices stemming from the unique Torah of their life experiences helps me reimagine what Torah can teach.
This past week was no different as Marc[...]
Category : Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : accounting community d'var torah gary blog harriet pearlman kiddush mamash marc fertik moses redemption sharon bender
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 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
September 23, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh, I could be mistaken, but I don't think many of us find the act of starting our cars a meaningful moment in our day. For those who drive regularly, it is a mundane occurrence that we don't think about (until that inopportune moment when our cars won't start). Yet there I was, sitting in my car on Friday morning, about to turn on the ignition and feeling lots of butterflies in my stomach as if I was walking into a room full of teenagers. All of a sudden, a simple act that I have done countless times in my life became a spiritual test, full of meaning. Why was this ignition start different than all other ignition starts? Because this[...]
Category : Holidays Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Sukkot Tag : car community ignition lulav m'lakhah mission lulav and etrog mitzvah rabbi rabbi's journal sukkot work
August 15, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
This is what community is all about...
After a wildly successful Shabbat by the Sea this past Friday night, we still managed to make a minyan the next day on Saturday, something that would have been very unlikely not so long ago.
This is what community is all about...
Last night 16 people got together at the schul for a weekday evening service so a member could say Kaddish on the day of her father's actual yahrtzeit. Through phone calls made by Sherry Weber and the Caring Committee, and through our other outreach efforts especially through Facebook, we showed how our community can come together at a moment's notice.
This is what community is all about...
Earlier in the day a handful of volunteers[...]
Category : Ari-archive Caring Committee Tag : alan roy caring committee community minyan rabbi rabbi's journal rubber duck race shabbat by the sea Sherry Weber
June 6, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
There are certain moments when you realize the purpose of being a part of a Jewish community. It could be inspiring services like our past Cantorial Showcase or our upcoming Friday Night Shabbat By the Sea. It could be fun social oriented events with friends like Sunday's Trip to Brighton Beach or June 20th's Movie Night. It could be moments of great insight into the meaning of our tradition, like we try to do every Friday during our Online Parashah Class.
Yet, despite the worthiness of all of these Jewish communal opportunities, I think the one that hits the closest to home is when we are grieving and we need our community to support us.[...]
Category : Ari-archive Cantorial Showcase What's Been Happening at Beth Mordecai Tag : Brighton Beach Cantorial Showcase community food minyan movie online parashah class presence rabbi rabbi's journal shabbat by the sea shiva
May 17, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
2013/5773 (Triennial III) -- In It Together Much is made about leadership. If you have a good captain of the ship, then the ship will be good. But perhaps the Torah teaches that it does not work that way. In preparation for this week's General Board meeting, watch this week's Parashah class as we explore a NEW way to look at leadership and communal action.
Category : Online Learning Online Parashah Class Tag : community leadership learning naso nasso online learning online parashah class parsha