Rabbi's Musings

This Friday morning, we will conclude Passover with a festival service and Yizkor prayers. Memory is always associated with the holiday of Passover. Memory and death are part of a holiday in part because it is during holidays when we remember those no longer with us.
 
Malachy McCourt, the brother of the now more famous Frank, wrote in his own bestselling book, Monk Swimming, of a time he picked up an old man on the road during a...Read more...

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits. (The Book of Proverbs, 18:21)
 
The question of how to live a good life is at the heart of the book of Proverbs, a collection of timeless sayings. (Our final class this year on Proverbs is on April 12.)  One of the themes that runs throughout the book is the challenge of choosing our words wisely, such as the proverbs: "A soft answer...Read more...

Thus the Eternal saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great work that the Eternal did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Eternal and believed in the Eternal and in his servant Moses. 

The Book of Exodus verses above, especially with the mention of "Egyptians dead on the seashore," show that the slavery in Egypt tragedy did not end slowly but...Read more...

Genesis 27:46

Then Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am weary of my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women such as these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?" 

In the Bible, we know that Rebekah had planned to gain her husband Isaac's blessing for her favorite son, Jacob, but in so...Read more...

The Hebrew word Chesed is notoriously difficult to translate. Dissertations have been written on it. The word is related to Chasid (disciple) but only tangentially. It is often translated as lovingkindness. But what exactly does that mean? We are told in the Talmud that the world in part exists because of Gemilut Chasadim, surely a related term. But, again, what is it to say, “acts of lovingkindness?” Who gets to define what acts? The...Read more...

You may remember that early in the pandemic (on March 10, 2020, to be more specific), members of a chorale in Washington state, in a county where Covid-19 had not yet reared its ugly head, decided to have their usual practice even though the virus was killing people in Seattle, about an hour away. Most people, including medical professionals, were not yet aware that Covid was spread easily by aerosols, which includes microscopic...Read more...

November is National Jewish Book Month. As a congregation I am asking that we read the following book and meet to discuss it in person on November 17, at 730 pm at the CBSW Social Hall. The book is Micah Goodman’s The Wondering Jew: Israel and the Search for Jewish Identity. This recent book is already considered a masterpiece. Goodman tackles the religious-secular divide in Israel (and the world), showing how different Jewish denominations...Read more...

Here’s hoping that the Covid numbers continue to go down and our opportunities to restore our community ascend! To that end, we have some upcoming – but safe – events planned. They include of course our Friday night 730 pm worship but also tonight’s 730 pm monthly class on the wisdom of the biblical book Proverbs. You will be amazed at how relevant this 3,000-year-old advice is for us today. On November 2 we will have our next...Read more...

A Lesson from Mt. Everest

At 29,028 feet high, Mt. Everest’s weather is seldom ideal for long, but the longest windows for ascent normally occur in the spring, from late March to the first week in June. This means that all those who want to climb the highest real estate on earth need to make their attempts within that timeframe. The extended time near the summit also increases the likelihood that people will succumb to other...Read more...

Shaphan the secretary informed the king, "The priest Hilkiah has given me a book." Shaphan then read it aloud to the king. When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes. 2 Kings 22:10-11

In the Bible there is a dramatic tale of the King of Judah being presented with a scroll that had been hidden for many years and was now discovered. Although the term "time capsule" doesn't appear anywhere in the...Read more...

Georgene Johnson lived in Cleveland, Ohio.  She was 42 years old and she was trying to have a good attitude about being 42 years old.  And so she started running and exercising to keep in shape. She said, “I’m not going to look like I am 42, or at least I am going to look like a good 42.”

She did well in her running. She was running farther every day. She thought...Read more...

"Who's there?" is the first thing we read in Shakespeare's Hamlet. It encapsulates the topic of the entire play. "Where are you?" is the first question asked by God in the Torah (Genesis 3:9). From a metaphysical point of view, it captures the topic of the entire Bible. Paying attention to questions is a clever way to get to the heart of any matter. As the physicist Isaac Rabi used to recall, when his mother greeted him at the end of the...Read more...

A continuing and often underreported concern these days, made more acute due to the pandemic, is suicide prevention and mental health. It is important that the resources available to us are easy to access, such a 1-800-273-8255, the nation suicide prevention lifeline. There is also a crisis text line at 741741 and a chat service at imalive.org. In addition, in the Woodlands there are a number of resources, including...Read more...

Every year at Passover we welcome Elijah

1. Who was Elijah?

2. What is the significance of welcoming him at Passover?

3. I have been told from my childhood that one day he will come. What is the significance of that and what does it mean to us as Jews?

In the Bible, Elijah is not the...Read more...

What is the Jewish View of The Hereafter?

I once had an elderly rabbinic professor who would say that each night he would ponder the hereafter. He would wake up around 2 am, go downstairs, open the refrigerator, and ask himself, “Now what was I here after?”

In Jewish tradition the hereafter had little mention in the Bible. Belief in an afterlife...Read more...