As we start this New Year, we ask for the opportunity to begin with a “blank slate.” I found myself using this language of “starting again” with my two teenage daughters as well. The new start includes simple routine adjustments such as going to bed earlier, establishing a homework routine,...
This week we wish Liz Z. Sussman, all the very best as she enters into retirement and her next adventure. She has been the Early Childhood Education Director of the Richard E. Rudolph Jr. Preschool at KI for the last eight years. With all of her many gifts, Liz grew...
As I start my 20th year as your Cantor, I would like to share with you one major way I have grown (dramatically) since I started. In my first couple of years as your cantor, I would come to the office with an Iced Carmel Macchiato and a Blueberry Scone...
How many times have I heard this from my now teenage daughters, “keep up with the times” and even from my husband! Is this a phrase you have heard as well? Usually I hear it in reference to using technology or the words I am using…I am trying to keep...
This week, our youngest daughter, Kira, becomes Bat Mitzvah. Her Torah portion happens to be B’har which means “on the mountain.” This is a portion of perspective, a chance to gain some “height,” and to evaluate what is meaningful to us. To our tradition, this portion teaches us that rest...
This Shabbat, Friday, April 14, 2023 at 7:00 p.m., is our Organ Donor Shabbat. Organ donation is central to Judaism as one of our tenets is “Pikuach Nefesh.” Jewish tradition considers saving human life — pikuach nefesh in Hebrew — to be among the highest ethical obligations. Saving one life,...
Each year we honor a member for lifelong service to KI and service to humanity with a Rabbi David Einhorn Award and a plaque on the Simcha Wall. This award is presented at our Heritage Shabbat which was created about ten years ago to honor the founding of KI in...
Our prayers and thoughts are with the people of Turkey and Syria, in the aftermath of this devastating earthquake (7.8) on Monday, February 6. It is so tragic and difficult to comprehend that the death toll is currently around 19,000. May the memories of the victims be a blessing. We...
Lately a lot of people have said to me that my kids are so grown up. They’ve made a transformation. I love these comments, because I usually feel it’s commentary on the transformation my daughters, Aria and Kira, are going through and I appreciate that someone took the time to...
This week’s Torah portion Chayei Sarah, means “Life of Sarah,” but it actually speaks of how Abraham deals with the loss of his beloved wife, Sarah. In verse 23:2, there are two different verbs for mourning. One is “to wail” and one is “to cry.” This story reminds us that...
