This week we read the third of three Haftarah portions that precede Tisha B’Av, the day that commemorates the fall of the great Temple in Jerusalem in the year 70. These three portions each admonish the Israelites for straying from God, from Torah and from their fellow Jews. This third...

A few years ago, I filled out a simple volunteer form for the Women’s Center of Montgomery County, an organization that helps free victims of domestic violence and other forms of abuse. I checked the box that said “occasional help.” I thought I’d maybe help out here and there, but...

Thirty-one of us are just returning home after a powerful and transformative experience in Eastern Europe. We stayed in Warsaw and Krakow, once centers of Jewish life. We saw the horrors of Auschwitz – Birkenau with our own eyes. With every step there was so much to process. A smaller...

The largest gift collection the Temple Judea Museum has ever received arrived last week, delivered in a very large truck by Debra Gussman and her husband, Samuel “Farfel” Duckworth.  It was Debra’s mom, Florence (Flo) Korostoff Gussman (1930 – 2024) who assembled this fascinating collection of Noah, his Ark, and...

This week we mark the Fourth of July. Americans will take to the beaches. They will join in parades. They will fill the sky with fireworks. There will be barbecues and American music, cherry pie and domestic beer. We will mark 249 years since the formal founding of the United...