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!
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
December 3, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
Reflections on thoughts leading to Sunday's Hanukkah Party (see below after the text)
אך עיקר הנס היה בחנוכה מה שניצחו החשמונאים במתי מספר את היונים שהיו מולכים בכל העולם והיו עם רב. אבל הנס שהיה בשמן היה רק מצד ה' יתברך שהיה חביבה לפניו הדלקה זו. שישרארל מצידם כיון שטימאו כל השנים וללא היה להם שמן היו פטורים ממצות הדלק המנורה; דאונס רחמנא פטריה. וכל שכן שלא היו מחויבים למסור נפשם בעד מצוה זו. רק שהראה ה' יתברך אז שחביבה הדלקת המנורה לפניו והמציא לפניהם בנס שמן להדלקת הנרות.
- רב צדוק הכוהן מלובלין -- פרי צדק בראשית לחנוכה
The essential miracle of Hanukkah was the Maccabees, with only a small number, defeating the Greeks who controlled the world[...]
Category : Hanukkah Holidays Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : rabbi rabbi's journal
November 20, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
Reflection on working last weekend with interfaith families in Faithful Families & Grandparents Circle
Dear Hevreh,
"Discomfort." If I had to name the single most intractable challenge for interfaith families to overcome, it would be "discomfort." In particular, it's the discomfort of Jewish parents in knowing their kids and especially their grandkids are being exposed to the traditions of other faiths, and it's the discomfort of those intermarried kids (many of whom are now parents) in engaging with a potentially contentious topic without the unilateral support of their family and clergy. The result of the discomfort for the former is that in order to remain in relationship with their families, the Jewish parents tread very carefully on the[...]
Category : Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : Faithful Families Grandparents Circle interfaith interfaith families rabbi rabbi's journal
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
September 27, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
(9/25/15),
Depending on your take, we are either at the end of the holidays (no more Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur) or we are in the middle of them (Sukkot, Sh'mini Atzeret, & Simhat Torah, here we come!). There are good reasons for both opinions. For those who see us at the end of the holidays, nothing can beat the majesty, the aura, and solemnity of the High Holiday experience (especially after hearing our organ at work on Kol Nidre!). Though it may be a short time, it is an intense time and, especially after Norman's moving Yizkor Address, reminds us why we're Jews.
Listen to parts of the Yom Kippur Service including...
Organ playing Kol Nidre
Cantor Bronwen Mullin's version[...]
Category : Ari-archive Tag : high holidays rabbi rabbi's journal Yom Kippur
September 6, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
(9/6/15),
I'm a big football fan and this week is the lead-up to the regular season of the National Football League (NFL). Each week/game is important because there are so few games in the year (as oppose to all other professional sports who play multiple games a week). That being said, certain weeks are bigger than others because the opponent is either a hated rival or a contending team. Those weeks are often called by the name of the opponent, as in "Dallas Week" when my favorite team, the Philadelphia Eagles, play the hated Dallas Cowboys. That week boasts a lot of hype and a lot of energy and enthusiasm because you really want your team to win that game. That[...]
Category : Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Rosh Hashanah Tag : Jewish NFL Philadelphia Eagles rabbi rabbi's journal Rosh Hashanah shofar t'shuva teshuva teshuvah tshuvah
September 4, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
(9/4/15),
אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא למשה: מתנה טובה יש לי בבית גנזי ושבת שמה, ואני מבקש ליתנה לישראל - לך והודיעם (תלמוד בבלי מסכת שבת דף י עמוד ב)
The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, "I have a precious gift in My treasure house, called the Sabbath, and desire to give it to Israel; go and inform them" (Babylonian Talmud Tractate Shabbat 10b)
Dear Hevreh,
Last week was a beautiful Shabbat. Kids dancing, food sharing, prayer singing. Every moment was more precious than the next and as the sun turned into a beautiful full moon, you couldn't help but think that God had truly blessed this moment as "good."
Click here for some pictures from the event taken[...]
Category : Ari-archive Tag : 10b beauty kids moon rabbi's journal shabbat shabbat by the sea Shalom Aleichem Shalom Aleikhem sun talmud Tot Shabbat y'did nefesh Yedid Nefesh
August 25, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
Back in rabbinical school, we talked a lot about the language we use to describe a synagogue. Synagogue and Community describe a group of like minded people who affiliate together for a particular purpose, whether it's to do a ritual or to help someone find a job. On the other hand, Home and Family connote a closer connection, one in which we feel tied together despite (or because of?) our flaws. The former terms depict a place and a group we can move in and out of as we please; the latter terms describe a condition that is always a part of us, no matter how often we are present or absent.
I spent this past Shabbat with my family celebrating[...]
Category : Ari-archive Tag : rabbi rabbi's journal shabbat shabbat by the sea
August 14, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
(8/14/15),
Dear Hevreh,
I'm always trying to tinker with our Friday night and Saturday morning Shabbat experiences. It could be linking Adult learning with Tot Shabbat as we will do tomorrow morning, or it could bemeals at people's homes as we did in the Spring, or it could be a Family and Community Shabbat by the Sea experience like we'll have at the end of August, or it could be something as simple as having a dedicated Shabbat to celebrate people's smahot (special occasions). The goal is not just to change things up for the sake of change, but to find meaningful, interesting, and creative ways of connecting together as a community.[...]
Category : Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Shabbat Social Media Tag : facebook rabbi rabbi's journal shabbat shabbat message social media
August 13, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
(8/13/15),
"Wherever we are together, that is home."
Dear Hevreh,
This past week I spent some quality time with family. We rented a home on the beach and written upon one of the walls of the house was the quote from above -- wherever we are together, that is home. How appropriate because though this rented space was not the physical home any of us lived in before this week, we made it home because we were there together.
Home is not simply the place we grew up. In the first mention of the Hebrew word for home or house (b-y-t) in the Torah, Abram (before he's called "Abraham") is told by God to leave "your father's house" (Genesis 12:1). Only a few short chapters[...]
Category : Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : Abraham home rabbi rabbi's journal