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!
September 25, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh, 5 Reasons I love Torah.... #1 -- Every time I look at a piece of Torah, I find something new I never found before #2 -- Just looking at the letters as they drip with tradition and Godliness is a spiritual experience #3 -- Who knew that dancing with a scroll could be so much fun? #4 -- It grounds me, and reminds me to serve a higher purpose greater than myself #5 -- Recognizing that Torah does not only live in a book; it lives in our hearts, as our own Unique Torah What are some of the reasons YOU love Torah? What are some of the ways that Torah lives in YOUR heart? Come join us to explore those questions, and to have a fun[...]
Category : Holidays Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Simhat Torah Tag : holidays rabbi rabbi's journal simchat torah simhat torah
September 24, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
As I sit at my desk trying to think about how to describe our upcoming celebrations of the holidays of Sh'mini Atzeret and Simhat Torah, I'm struck by a particular thought. Judaism is a religion that thrives on anxiety. Now bear with me, for a moment -- we just celebrated the High Holidays which is a period of serious reflection as we consider the aspects of our character that we'd like to work on for the following year. Yet Rosh Hashanah is supposed to be a joyous holiday, and Yom Kippur is considered to be a Shabbat Shabbaton, the greatest of all Sabbaths, and no one would mistake Shabbat for a sad occassion. The juxtaposition of the solemnity[...]
Category : Holidays Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Rosh Hashanah Sh'mini Atzeret Simhat Torah Yom Kippur Tag : dance holidays joy rabbi's journal rosh hashana Rosh Hashanah sh'mini atzeret shemini atzeret simchat torah simhat torah Yom Kippur
September 14, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
Rabbi Ari Saks Congregation Beth Mordecai Yom Kippur Sermon 5774 (September 14, 2013)* Standing behind the doors of the closed ballroom in one of the finer hotels in Spokane, Washington, I nervously prepared myself for one of the scariest, most vulnerable moments in my 17 years of life…running for Religious Education Vice President of Pinwheel USY, the local region of United Synagogue Youth. My hands sweaty, my heart in my stomach, I opened the doors and did this…cue Mordecai Ben David music…That’s right, I danced into a room full of teenagers rocking out to Mordecai Ben David’s classical religious single, “Moshiach, Moshiach, Moshiach! (or Messiah, Messiah, Messiah!)” Though I don’t remember exactly what I said – I probably blacked out after that[...]
Category : Holidays Sermons Uncategorized Yom Kippur Tag : holidays sermons Yom Kippur
August 15, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
Join us for the High Holidays!
Category : Holidays Rosh Hashanah Yom Kippur Tag : advertisement high holidays holidays Rosh Hashanah Yom Kippur
August 13, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
Wow, what an incredible Shabbat. The music, the dancing, the spirit, the views by the bay, the delicious food...everything about Shabbat by the Sea this past Friday was amazing! With nearly 60 people at our unique service and over 40 people at our community dinner, it was a highlight event for our Jewish Home for the Soul.
Check out this link for some pre-Shabbat pictures from Shabbat by the Sea!
Yet the moment that really did it for me, the moment in which I knew we really hit on something, the moment in which I knew what we did was "soulful," was when Alan Siegel mentioned to me that "it wasn't just fun, it was also meaningful."
That comment, more than[...]
Category : Ari-archive Tag : dancing holidays meaning rabbi rabbi's journal rubber duck race shabbat by the sea soul soulfulness trips
March 7, 2013 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
Last night, over a dozen members and friends of Beth Mordecai gathered for our third holiday cooking class with the wonderful folks of tABLEhealth. We made a delicious alternative to the usual gefilte fish appetizer, yummy vegetables that stole the show, and a quinoa salad that displayed the creativity of Passover cooking.
Check out updates from last night's cooking class on my twitter feed of @Ari_Saks
Yet just as significant as the activity of the program was the activism of our community after the program. People started talking, conversed, and exchanged phone numbers to discuss future programs -- trips to New York, fun day activities, long term projects for the synagogue. That activism comes on the heels of a[...]
Category : Holidays Passover Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : activism activity cooking class holidays passover rabbi rabbi's journal