They Rebelled Against Me

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...

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Our Journey Needs You

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...

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Poland 2025

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...

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Welcome Noah’s Ark!

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...

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Resisting Easy Answers

As I write these words, Israel and Iran have agreed to a very delicate and fragile ceasefire. Following two anxious weeks of bombs and missiles, these two nations have put down their weapons. Iranian leadership has long stood adamantly opposed to Israel (and America). We are the eternal scapegoats not...

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Juneteenth Reflection at KI

KI will be closed this Thursday in honor of Juneteenth. This holiday has us acknowledge the end of slavery and the ultimate enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation. On Juneteenth, we recall the date of June 19, 1865, when this momentous occasion took place. It marked a turning point not only for...

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Be Proud

There is a story in the Talmud of two rabbis who seem attracted to each other. Everything about their interaction suggests romantic interest. One goes as far as marrying the sister of the other, so that they can always be close to each other. These two sages, and so many...

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Echoes of the Six-Day War

Jewish communities around the world marked Yom Yerushalayim earlier this week. It is a minor holiday all things considered and, in some places, hardly acknowledged at all. Jerusalem Day celebrates the unification of Jerusalem, which took place at the conclusion of the Six-Day War in June of 1967. This war...

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