An inclusive congregation affiliated with the Conservative Movement.
Your Jewish Home for the Soul!
April 21, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh, Hebrew is hard, I know. Though I've spent many years reading, speaking, and singing Hebrew there are many times when I just don't get it. It can feel foreign, but amazingly enough, it can also feel homey. There's something about the cadence, the sound (especially those gutteral sounds that make you sound like you're coughing up something) that speaks directly to my soul, my neshamah. In my latest piece on State of Formation "Praying in Hebrew, Speaking in Tongues," I discuss how the difficulty of understanding Hebrew makes it tough to be a language of meaningful prayer when we want to know what we're saying when we pray. As such, it's important to find language in our mother tongue[...]
Category : Hebrew Publications Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : hebrew prayer Publications rabbi rabbi's journal state of formation
May 2, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh, Some issues affect you more than others... Personally, there have been moments when a particular issue -- whether in our community or in our greater culture -- stir up intense feelings within me, and I feel compelled to speak out on them. This past week, I have been riveted by the story concerning Donald Sterling's comments to his girlfriend about black people and the subsequent reactions to those comments. Perhaps it is because I am fascinated by how Judaism is portrayed in the larger culture or perhaps it is because of my love of sports (I thought about going into sports journalism before becoming a rabbi), but I I felt I had to respond in two separate ways. The first was[...]
Category : Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : bigotry bulletin donald sterling rabbi rabbi's journal state of formation