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 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
December 24, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
(12/24/15),
Reflection on tonight's Chinese Dinner & A Movie event...
Dear Hevreh,
A brief search of Facebook events reveals the extent to which the custom (minhag) of Chinese Dinner and a Movie on Christmas seems as powerful as any biblical or rabbinic law (halakhah). This should not be surprising. Whether it's eating bagels and lox on weekends, placing rocks on gravestones, or arguing over the check, Jewish customs are extremely potent markers of Jewish practice and identity. The rabbis knew this. Even in a system whereby laws (halakhot) were authoritative because of the weight of biblical precedent or rabbinic decree, customs held great sway because they were created and maintained by the people (amkha). In some instances, customs were so deliciously[...]
Category : Holidays Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : chinese dinner custom halakhah Halakhic Process holidays Joel Roth law minhag movie rabbi rabbi's journal
July 15, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
(7/15/15),
62 days. That's how long it is until we gather together in our beautiful sanctuary to ring in another Jewish New Year (!). I don't know about you, but 62 days feels far off and just around the corner at the same time. Yesterday, I spent some quality time in the library at the Jewish Theological Seminary to prepare material for the holidays and to turn my mind towards the themes of repentance, forgiveness, and self-renewal. Perhaps its because it felt so blistering hot outside, but it was hard to imagine that I was preparing for an event at the end of the summer. Could the words I was reading about a holiday still over two months away resonate with[...]
Category : Holidays Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Rosh Hashanah Yom Kippur Tag : high holidays holidays planning rabbi rabbi's journal Rosh Hashanah Script volunteers Yom Kippur
March 1, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
The Dark Exuberance of Purim
Purim is here! So don your Queen Esther costume, eat as many hamantaschen as possible, drink all night, and twirl your grogger in the air. It’s time to celebrate this holiday of marbim b’simhah, of increased joy. So please join us for our celebration of Purim which includes…
A Purim carnival with an amazing magician (Sunday, March 1st 12-3 pm at the JCC in Edison);
Mishloah Manot (Gift Basket) Delivery to Jewish Veterans (Sunday, March 1st 3:30 pm at the NJ Veterans Home and Hospital near Menlo Park Mall);
A special #AskTheRabbi Purim Edition on “Should You Get Drunk on Purim?” (Wednesday, March 4th 12 pm at Menlo Park Mall Food Court);
A Hamantaschen Bake-off and Megillah Reading (Wednesday, March[...]
Category : Bulletin Articles Purim Tag : bulletin bulletin articles carnival fantasy holidays jewishness mityahadim purim revenge
August 5, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
Last night, our community gathered with Marlboro Jewish Center, Temple Beth Ahm, and Congregation Beth Ohr for a special communal observance of Tisha B'av. A number of the rabbis, including myself, had an opportunity to teach a little about the holiday prior to readingM'gillat Eikhah. I was particularly fascinated by the teaching of Rabbi Lisa Malik on the story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza, perhaps the most famous story related to the destruction of the second Temple.
The story, which you can find here, seemed pregnant with such meaning that I took the time today with one of our members to study it in more depth. (By the way, please feel free to drop in during[...]
Category : Holidays Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tishah B'av Uncategorized Tag : Bar Kamtza Congregation Beth Ahm Congregation Beth Ohr destruction fasting holidays jerusalem Kamtza Marlboro Jewish Center rabbi Rabbi Lisa Malik Rabbi Michael Pont Rabbi Yochanan Rabbi Yohanan rabbi's journal talmud Temple tisha b'av tishah b'av zealotry
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
January 13, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
In honor of the Jewish birthday of the Trees, Tu B'shvat, please join us as for a special Family Shabbat at 11 am as we explore the gifts of trees through the prism of Shel Silverstein's award winning book "The Giving Tree." This hour long program appropriate for kids and adults of all ages will include storytelling, singing, Shabbat appropriate activities, lots of tasty "tree" food, and much more! So don't miss out on this very special birthday celebration.
Kiddush Luncheon to follow
Category : Family Shabbat Holidays Tu B'shvat Tag : family shabbat giving tree holidays shel silverstein tu b'shvat
November 25, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
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Category : American Jewish News Hanukkah Holidays Jewish Culture and History Tag : american jewish news food hanukkah holidays pie thanksgiving thanksgivukkah
November 13, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
Really! Check it out! // Post by Congregation Beth Mordecai.
October 8, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh, We are still less than a month removed from our High Holiday celebrations as a community, and I hope you are still feeling some of the positive effects of those days together and that they helped make the wisdom of a Jewish tradition come alive for you. I've already heard a good amount of positive and constructive feedback from you on the content and the process of those days, yet in order to make the lessons from those days stick throughout the year, and in order to improve the overall experience of the holidays every year, it is important to know more. That is why this week I will continue to listen to anecdotal feedback through private conversations and[...]
Category : Holidays Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Rosh Hashanah Yom Kippur Tag : feedback high holidays holidays rabbi rabbi's journal Review Ron Miskoff Rosh Hashanah Yom Kippur