Can we, Congregation Agudath Achim—this Family of Friends (or the people of Israel as a whole, for that matter), function and flourish together as a single community, not despite our differences, but precisely because of them?
Our Jewish tradition invites us to linger over the transition of the New Year. We blow the shofar for an entire month before Rosh Hashanah, as we are encouraged to engage in “cheshbon hanefesh” – literally, a “spiritual accounting.” When the shofar of the month of Elul calls to us “ayeka”? where are you? we are bidden to answer simply “hineni,” here I am.
Engaging in acts of kindness and mutual aid can be its own path to strengthening the bonds of community, whether we are benefactors or recipients. When one member of the community makes a meal for another or calls someone who might be lonely, both come away with the kind of connection and well-being that only comes from living in community.
Dear Family of Friends,
It’s hard to believe, but I’ve been part of this community for a full year. During the first service I led at Congregation Agudath Achim in March 2024, I had an experience that one might have expected to be a bad sign for future employment, but was in truth exactly the opposite.
Mystical wisdom is famous for being elusive and hard to grasp, but in our weekly Kabbalah class we have found the ideas to be deeply resonant to our modern lives. In this column, I share a brief introduction to three concepts: the expansive love of Chesed, the bounding power of Gevurah, and the beauty of Tiferent, which balances, incorporates, and integrates them in compassion.
“In every generation,” we say on Passover, “we must see ourselves as if we, personally, left Egypt.” The traditional Haggadah goes on to clarify that this is because “had the Holy One of Blessing not liberated our ancestors from bondage in Egypt, then we, and our children, and our children’s children, would still be slaves Continue Reading »
“When Adar begins, we multiply our joys.” — Talmud, Tractate Ta’anit 29a Dear Family of Friends, Jewish commandments are generally about actions, not feelings. For instance: we consider giving to the poor to be an action of tzedakah – from the Hebrew word “tzedek,” meaning justice, rather than an act of charity, from the Latin word caritas, meaning Continue Reading »
Dear Family of Friends, There is a beautiful passage in the traditional morning liturgy, one of several in which we imagine ourselves singing with the choir of ministering angels who forever intone “holy, holy, holy” before the throne of glory: “Each of them is beloved, each of them is pure, each of them is mighty and Continue Reading »
Dear Family of Friends, In last month’s column, I introduced you to two rabbis from the Talmud: the literal-minded Shammai, who lit his Hanukkah menorah with eight candles on the first night, removing one each subsequent night to commemorate the decreasing oil, and the more subtle Hillel, who began with a single candle and increased Continue Reading »
Dear family of friends, Hanukkah doesn’t begin this year until the end of December, but the season of darkness is already upon us, and we find ourselves in need of kindling lights. In this time of year when the nights are at their longest, we can draw inspiration from the Maccabees. The Talmud tells us that Continue Reading »
