An inclusive congregation affiliated with the Conservative Movement.
Your Jewish Home for the Soul!
April 27, 2016 By bethmordecai no comments.
The setup of our Seder last night. The calm before the storm (lol)
- Scott Gursky
Dear Hevreh,
Our tables are set with an expected order. Forks on the left with the salad fork on the outside; dishes stacked to reflect the order in which we will eat; and the wine and water glasses neatly arranged for ease of use and aesthetic value. An immaculately set table is abeautiful sight to behold but it's orderly beauty is set in contradistinction the wonderful chaos and life of a meal. Spilled drinks, table banging, loud children noises, interrupted conversations, and bellowing laughter make meals -- especially large Seder meals -- an incredibly messy, but beautiful, experience to have.[...]
Category : Holidays home Passover Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : Adam and Eve chaos control Creation God holidays Illusion Noah's Ark Order passover rabbi Rabbi Shuli Passow rabbi's journal reality seder Sodom and Gomorrah Tower of Babel
April 21, 2016 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
I never held a pistol before, let alone carried one in a gun holster snug tightly against my hip. Yet there I was, a rabbi and a police chaplain, armed in a training simulator at the Middlesex County Police training center to get a taste of what police officers experience on a daily basis. The wall length screen in front of me projected scenarios that police face, from traffic stops of armed bikers and arrest warrant fugitives to domestic violence calls. It was sobering, surreal even, to encounter these individuals on the screen who, through the wonders of technology, seemed so real. As our Captain said, even though you know it's not real your heart rate will increase as[...]
Category : Ari-archive Tag : God Guns high holidays passover Perth Amboy Police Chaplain Corps Police power rabbi rabbi's journal training
January 21, 2016 By bethmordecai no comments.
Reflection on last week's Friday night service and this week's upcoming storm...
"דומה דודי לצבי" (שיר השירים ב:ט), מה צבי זה מדלג מהר להר מבקעה לבקעה מאילן לאילן ומסוכה לסוכה מגדר לגדר, כך הקב"ה מקפץ מבית הכנסת זה לבית הכנסת זה מבית מדרש זה לבית מדרש זה. כל כך למה? כדי לברך ישראל.
- שיר השירים רבה פרשה ב
"My beloved is like a gazelle" (Song of Songs 2:9), Just as a gazelle skips from mountain to mountain, valley to valley, tree to tree, and dwelling to dwelling, fence to fence, so too the Holy One Blessed Be He skips from this synagogue to that synagogue, from this house of study to that house of study. Why? In order to bless Israel.
- Song[...]
Category : Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Shabbat Tag : Ahad Ha'am angels God home jewish community learning Midrash Northern Jewish Middlesex rabbi rabbi's journal shabbat skipping song of songs synagogue שיר השירים
September 25, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
Parashat Haazinu 2015/5776: The Enemy of My Friend
In Moses' final instruction to Israel, he warns them that if they spurn God, then God will "hide God's countenance from them" (אסתירה פני מהם) (Deuteronomy 32:20). But curiously in addition to this threat of absence, God also warns the Israelites that God's support will be directed in favor of Israel's enemies: "They incensed me with "no-gods" (בלא אל)...I'll incense them with "a no folk" (בלא עם)" (Deuteronomy 32:21).
What is the difference between ABSTAINING from helping your friends versus AIDING your friends' enemies to hurt them? Does the identity of your friends' enemy matter? How does this relate to how we help or hurt our friends in our lives?
Photo is taken from[...]
Category : Online Learning Online Parashah Class Tag : Assyria Chaldea Deuteronomy 32 Deuteronomy 32:20 Deuteronomy 32:21 God Haazinu Isaiah 23:13 Jonah kasdim Masechet Sukkah 52b moses Ninveh online learning online parashah class parsha כשדים
September 17, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
Experience the majesty of God's presence in our lives with this beautiful congregational tune! [audio m4a="http://bethmordecai.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Rosh-Hashanah-Day-1-Shacharit-Repetition-of-Amidah-Adonai-Melekh-Kingship.m4a"][/audio] CLICK HERE TO Listen to ALL of the great teachings, prayers, sermons, and speeches from Rosh Hashanah 2015/5776
Category : Ari-archive videos-archive Tag : Cantor Oren Pollak God hashem melekh kingship presence rabbi ari saks Rosh Hashanah
July 24, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
Parashat D'varim 2015/5775 (Triennial II): Does Financial Success Come From God?
Most people know the biblical account of manna from heaven: God provides food from heaven for the Israelites in the form of "manna," a bread like substance that according to rabbinic tradition tastes how you want it to taste. Likewise, the Israelites often stop in the desert for God to give them water. But In the triennial section of this week's Torah portion, we read something different: the Israelites had to PAY the tribe of Esau for food and water (Deuteronomy 2:6)! Because the food and water are no longer "free," does it mean that God does not provide it for them? This does not seem to be the[...]
Category : Online Learning Online Parashah Class Tag : deuteronomy esau God jacob money online learning online parashah class panim yafot parsha ramban rashbam rashi wealth דברים
July 17, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
Parashat Matot Ma-asei -- Will You Go to War With Me?
The Iran Deal agreed to this past week calls into question the ways in which regional powers (Israel, Gulf States) relate to their allies abroad (America, France, Great Britain, etc.). Are their allies standing by them or leaving them to deal with potential consequences of the deal?
This week's triennial Torah portion (Numbers 32 and 33) appropriately deal with the issue of whether "allies" (i.e. tribes) will go to war with their brethren if their immediate needs aren't threatened. Likewise, how willing are we to stick our necks out for our friends if we are not affected to the same degree as they are? Will we be present with them or[...]
Category : Online Learning Online Parashah Class Tag : brothers crossing Jordan Gadites God ma'asei ma-asei matot online learning online parashah class or hachayim parsha Reubenites war מטות מעסי
July 10, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
Parashat Pinhas 2015/5775 (Triennial II) -- Won't You Be My Messiah?
Rabbi Saks' weekly Online Parashah Class will share insight from the Jewish tradition on how YOU can identify the coming of the messiah. The messiah might be right next door...don't you want to find out!?!?
Picture from oren neu dag [Attribution]
Click here for a chronological listing of Rabbi Saks' Online Parashah Classes
Click here for a listing of Rabbi Saks' Online Parashah Classes by Torah Portion
Category : Online Learning Online Parashah Class Tag : abraham joshua heschel Book of Legends God king messiah Midrash online learning online parashah class parashah parsha pinchas pinhas priest prophets values weekly torah portion פנחס
March 6, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
Parashat Ki Tissa 2015/5775 (Triennial II) -- Can the Chasm Between God and Humanity Be Bridged? In this week's Torah portion we read the famous story of the Golden Calf (Exodus 32) in which the Israelites rebel against God. But more than just a simple rebellion, perhaps this "sin" indicates that the chasm between the holy (God) and the mundane (humanity) is too great to bridge. This issue is also addressed in the verse that opens the Torah portion prior to the story of the Golden Calf in which Moses receives the Torah from God (Exodus 31:18). Does the Torah reflect God's direct word? Or,[...]
Category : Online Learning Online Parashah Class Tag : Allegory Authorship Bridge Cave Chasm Exodus 31:18 Exodus 32 Exodus Rabbah 41 God Golden Calf humanity ki tissa Midrash online learning online parashah class parsha Plato Tablets torah Write כי תשא
February 13, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
Parashat Mishpatim 2015/5775 (Triennial II) -- The Difficulty in Telling the Truth (Exodus 22:4-23:19)
Telling the truth is not always easy, but it's an important part of our society. Deals would not be made and promises would not be kept if we are worried the other side is lying to us. In this week's Torah portion (Mishpatim) we have an allusion to the act of telling the truth "before God" (Exodus 22:7) which may be a forebear to the testimonial act of swearing by use of a Bible. Perhaps this is meant to teach us that fear or love of God will cause us to tell the truth. Yet, embedded in the[...]
Category : Online Learning Online Parashah Class Tag : Elohim Elokim false gods God human Jewish judges mishpatim online learning online parashah class right testimony torah truth weekly torah portion witness wrong משפטים