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!
May 12, 2016 By bethmordecai no comments.
"I was a shepherd in Africa...now I shepherd Jewish people to Israel"
- paraphrase of Dr. Avraham Neguise, Likud Member of Knesset and Chairman of Committee on Immigration, Absorption, and Diaspora Affairs
Dear Hevreh,
Israel has always held a special place in my heart. Between college and rabbinical school I took five trips to Israel and after each one my appreciation and love for the miracle of the Jewish State only increased. I even contemplated making aliyah at one point until I felt commanded to serve the Jewish people and religious life in America. This story is not new - many non-Israeli Jews feel a call to join the Jewish project in Israel, yet for one reason or another find[...]
Category : home Israeli News Middlesex Jewish News Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : america appreciation bible connection diaspora israel miracle MK Dr. Avraham Neguise Rabbinical Association in the Heart of New Jersey rahnj relations shepherding Yom Haatzmaut
October 16, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
"אם אשכחך ירושלים תשכח ימיני" -- טעם ימיני בעבור כנורותינו כי בימין נגון היתרים
- אברהם אבן עזרא על תהילים קלז:ה
"If I forget thee O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither" -- The meaning of "right hand" has to do with [playing] our violins (or musical instruments) because you use your right hand to play the strings
- Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra (12th Century, Spain) on Psalms 137:5
Dear Hevreh,
If you've ever been to Jerusalem, you'll notice that there's music always in the air. It's not the kind you hear on the radio or in a beautiful sanctuary, but the kind you hear within your soul. It's music that's been playing since the moment God saved Isaac on the top of Mt. Moriah,[...]
Category : home Israeli News Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Services Shabbat Tag : israel jerusalem rabbi rabbi's journal
May 6, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
(5/6/15),
One important takeaway I took from last week's Adult Ed lecture on Judaism and Islam is that there is good and there is bad in almost all relationships, especially in ones that span continents and centuries. Speaking in hyperbole, whether good or bad, is often unproductive because we lose the nuance -- the ability to hold multiple and perhaps conflicting truths together -- necessary for open and honest conversations about the future. If we close ourselves to only one worldview we won't be aware that...
The deceased former king of Saudi Arabia decided to break from Wahhabism and devote himself to interfaith dialogue...
The leaders of the Palestinians still won't recognize Israel even in closed door meetings...
A relatively unknown country[...]
Category : Adult Education Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : adult education Burton Visotzky christianity conversation dialogue ignorance islam israel judaism nuance palestinians qatar rabbi rabbi's journal saudi arabia Understanding
April 17, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
(4/17/15),
This week is not an easy week for the Jewish people. Yom Hashoah uGvurah (Day of Holocaust Remembrance and Resistance) is a solemn occasion in which we recall the chaos of the murder of six million Jews at the hands of the Nazis. As I expressed during the Yom Hashoah commemoration at the JCC on Wednesday night, there is no good or easy way to explain or understand the chaos. All we can do is engage in rituals -- candle lighting, readings, music, and storytelling -- to help make some order out of the chaos, to help find the light amidst the darkness.
The juxtaposition of light and darkness was not only seen through the smiling faces of clergy[...]
Category : Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : #NeverAgain holocaust israel JCC of Middlesex light perth amboy rabbi rabbi's journal Yom Haatzmaut Yom Hashoah
October 5, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
Forgetting Justice for the Sake of Forgiveness
Kol Nidre 5775 – October 3, 2014*
Rabbi Ari Saks
Congregation Beth Mordecai
There is a famous midrash (Masekhet Rosh Hashanah, 17b) in which Moses is standing atop Mt. Sinai about to greet God for the very first time. When God arrives, Moses does not see God’s face but rather a figure wrapped in a beautiful Tallit. God then brings Moses into God’s Tallit and declares: “Moses. I will show you how to lead the people of Israel in prayer.” And as God teaches Moses how to lead the Israelites in prayer, God also teaches him a secret. “Moses, whenever Israel sins, let them recite the following words before Me, and I will forgive them.” And then[...]
Category : Israeli News Jewish Current Events Rabbi Sermons Yom Kippur Tag : 13 attributes accuracy Ali Abu Awwad arguing compassion forgiveness God hearing high holidays israel israeli-palestinian conflict justice lie Listening mercy Palestine rabbi Rabbi Brad Hirschfield Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger right righteousness sermons Seven (7) Habits of Highly Effective People Stephen Covey understand Understanding undrstood Yom Kippur You Don't Have to be Wrong for Me to be Right
September 9, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
On Sunday afternoon, our beautiful sanctuary was filled with words that were provocative, engaging, timely, and deeply powerful on the challenges of Israeli-Palestinian peace. They are words that many of us are still digesting, and will continue to digest especially through the High Holidays. They are words that teach us that there can be multiple truths to a single reality, and it is possible (albeit painful) to hold those two truths as equally valid.
And as these powerful words were shared by our guests Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger and Ali Abu Awwad, we were there to listen to them. 115 people from far and wide in the Jewish community of Middlesex community were present in our beautiful sanctuary to hear these[...]
Category : American Jewish News Israeli News Perth Amboy News Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : Ali Abu Awaad community israel israel event Palestine Palestinian peace perth amboy Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger speaker success
September 5, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
This is the third of a three part journal series previewing this Sunday's Israeli-Palestinian speaker event "One Land, Two Worlds, One Painful Hope"
Dear Hevreh,
The Jewish people have been through a lot in over 4000 years of our history. Expulstions, crusades, the Holocaust, you name it and it seems the Jewish people have survived it. So to say that a dialogue between a Palestinian and an Israeli is a "litmus test" for the Jewish people is rather facetious. If all of Jewish life is like an incredible Impressionist painting, then Sunday's event would be a single dot from the artist's brush.
That being said, anyone turning on the news today knows that the conversation in our sanctuary on Sunday is relevant to[...]
Category : Israeli News Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : dialogue extremist israel jewish people litmus test Palestine Palestinian rabbi rabbi's journal settlers terrorists Test
August 26, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh, It's amazing what a few phone calls and emails can do. Last Friday morning, I emailed and called some members of our community to let them know about a special minhah service we were having before our regular Friday night service so that one of our members could recite Kaddish on the day of his father's yahrtzeit. It just took a few emails and phone calls and before you know it...we had a full house in our chapel at 7:45 pm! It's incredible how technology can make it so much easier to get in contact with people and how we can rally people together in such a short period of time. The type of fast communication we take for granted[...]
Category : Holidays Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : bonfires Elul emails israel minyan Palestine Palestinian rabbi rabbi's journal Rosh Hodesh small time
August 24, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
(8/24/14),
Over the past two years, I've taken advantage of an opportunity to learn and connect with an impressive and diverse array of rabbis at a retreat for CLAL's Rabbis Without Borders program. At this past retreat, I had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know a very impressive rabbi -- Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger, an orthodox rabbi who lives in one of the settlements outside of Jerusalem and spends most of his time running a pluralist learning program he leads once a month in Northern Texas. We connected because of our mutual interest in Jewish perspectives on Christianity so we decided to continue our correspondence after the retreat as hevrutapartners to learn the New Testament together over[...]
Category : Israeli News Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : Ali Abu Awaad CLAL israel israeli news Jewish Studies Initiative non-violence opportunity peace rabbi Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger rabbi's journal rabbis without borders reconciliation
July 22, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
Parashat Mattot 2014/5774 (Triennial 1): Insights on the Road to War
Much of our attention this week is focused on the situation in Israel and the Gaza strip. As Israeli troops enter Gaza to protect the Israeli people from Kassam rockets, we read in this week's Torah portion (Mattot) of a different war, this one between the Israelites and the Midianites (Numbers Chapter 31). Are there any insights from this week's reading that will help us understand the issues of war and provide some insight on the challenges facing Israeli troops as they enter this conflict? Join us for this timely lesson!
Photo taken from Wikipedia -- http://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Portal:Bible/Featured_article/2008
Category : Online Learning Online Parashah Class Tag : family Gaza Hamas IDF israel Midianites Moabites online learning online parashah class war