The first part of this week’s Torah portion, Shof’tim (Magistrates) begins by providing a constitution for the state, which our ancestors were instructed to set up in the Land of Israel at the end of the Exodus. It provides for two branches of government, executive and judicial. On the other...
This week, we are reading Parashat R’eih, the fourth portion in Deuteronomy, the fifth and last book of the Torah. We are beginning to study the Third Discourse given by Moses to the children of Israel just prior to their entrance into the Promised Land. In this portion, Moses continues...
Yesterday, I met Cantor Amy, Ross Levy (videographer), Adam Guth (sound engineer), Jeff Miller (trumpet and shofar) and Marlene Adler (photographer) to tape the Shofar segments of the High Holy Day services and take pictures for the holy day videos. It was just six of us in our giant 900 seat...
Our member, Stefanie Polin, an alum of Holy Family University, said that after reading an email from the Sister, she was reminded of the fear she felt after 9/11 when she was a graduate student. That memory led her to write this Letter to the Editor that was recently published...
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and American Jews have a long-shared history. Last week’s viciously anti-Semitic posting by Minister Rodney Muhammad, head of the Philadelphia Chapter of the NAACP, has thrown relations between Americans Jews, African Americans, and the NAACP into disarray. First and unequivocally,...
“V’Eileh Had’varim asher diber Moshe el Bnai Yisrael…” And these are the words that Moses addressed to Israel on the other side of the Jordan, through the wilderness…” The book of D’varim/Deuteromy begins with these words! With “words,” Moses our teacher begins his review of the history of the Israelite...
There was a time in my life when I had to make a critical decision as my KI membership renewal information arrived. I was raising two daughters as a “single parent,” and working as an elementary school teacher, with little extra to spare at the end of each month. In...
In this week’s Torah portion, Matot-Masei, we recall our travels from Egypt through the desert. Names of destinations are listed, and each stopping point named. Honestly, listening to this list of “vacation” spots made me a little envious of our people’s ability to move around without too much fear of...
Dear KI Congregants, “How Does Being a Synagogue Member Make My Life Better?” is the title of an article that I read a number of years ago in a URJ publication. I tucked it away to share on a day such as this. Rabbi Paul Kipnes, a rabbi of a...
Both the Torah Portion (Pinchas, Numbers 25:10) and the Haftarah (I Kings 18:46) include expressions of extreme (religious) violence. In the former, Pinchas, a grandson of Aaron, publicly slays a mixed couple. In the latter, the prophet Elijah, some four centuries later, slays the priests of Baal and then dismembers...
