November 9, 2021 was the 83rd anniversary of Kristallnacht, the “Night of Broken Glass,” in which the Nazis burned Jewish businesses and synagogues in Germany and Austria. Sources indicate that over 1,000 synagogues were burned or destroyed. All within the span of two days, 7,000 Jewish businesses were looted and...
RABBINIC SEARCH COMMITTEE Search Committee Co-chairs Janice Schwartz-Donahue has been a member of KI for nearly 40 years although her family’s connection to KI reaches back to the 1920s. She taught 5th grade in Philadelphia for 39 years and was an active KI Sisterhood member, serving as Sisterhood Co-President in...
Under the leadership of Cantor Levy and Toby Grubman, our partnership with the Lowell Elementary School is flourishing. COVID presented a challenge for us last year, and this year we are not able to do all of the things we did in the past, but we are committed to helping....
This week’s Torah portion, Toldot (Genesis 25:19), reports on the life of the twins, Jacob and Esau, born to Isaac and Rebecca and their complex family dynamics. The Hebrew word Toldot is generally translated as “generations” but literally is closer to “descendants” in English but can also be used as...
This week’s Torah Portion, Hayei Sarah, the fifth sidrah in the first Torah Book, Bereshit/Genesis, begins with the death of the first matriarch of the Jewish people, Sarah our Mother. Even though the portion is entitled “Sarah’s Life,” chapter 23 begins with the mournful announcement of her death after 127...
In this week’s Torah portion, Vayera (Genesis 18), we read about the first “Jewish Supply Chain Crisis.” Basically, because of a fight within Abraham’s family, the first ‘Jewish’ family, half of the Jewish population is sent away. It is a complex and uncomfortable story. Abraham had been promised to be...
In this week’s Torah portion, Lech L’cha, God tells a young Abraham “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and it shall be blessing.” (Gen. 12:2) Throughout the portion, an emphasis is on how “great” of a nation...
Back in June, Liz and I moved from Elkins Park to Center City. The move went smoothly and, luckily, our new place came with our own parking spot, the key to happy urban living. Block by block, store by store, coffee shop-by-coffee shop, we learned our way around town. Then...
October 1, 2021 Focus Groups are Upcoming as We Await Candidate Applications Dear Friends: Now that the congregation survey is completed and results have been analyzed, the Rabbinic Search Committee has turned its attention to planning the upcoming Focus Groups. Coordinated by Liz Kaufman-Taylor, Marijke Shenkman and Andrew Altman, these...
We learn from Jewish tradition that we must never be far away from the study of Torah! This past week, Jews all over the world celebrated the holiday of Simchat Torah. We rejoiced together with singing and dancing because we completed the reading of the entire Torah! But as soon...
