Welcome To Temple Beth El!
I was reading a Jewish magazine recently and was amused by the number of ads that contained the phrase “life changing”. Send your children to Jewish camp. LIFECHANGING! Tour Poland and Israel with a renowned history professor. LIFECHANGING! Birthright Israel. LIFECHANGING! The reality of course is that life changing events can rarely be planned and Continue Reading »
February was Jewish Disabilities Awareness Month and Temple Beth El participated by inviting distinguished community leaders to speak to us on each Shabbat during the month about various disabilities and how we in the Jewish community can help improve the Jewish lives of people with these disabilities. Dr. Carolyn Stern, a deaf family physician, spoke Continue Reading »
In this most political of political seasons, I am sure we will hear the old adage that “a budget should reflect the values and priorities of our nation and its people”. This holds true not only for governments but also for synagogues. I have been present at TBE budget discussions for the last ten years Continue Reading »
A few weeks ago, Lesley and I visited her father who was recuperating in an Orthodox rehabilitation facility in Teaneck, NJ. As sunset approached, I went to Kabbalat Shabbat services, which were taking place in the small shul on the premises. As I entered, I immediately felt out of place. All of the men present Continue Reading »
A few weeks ago several Temple Beth El members attended the Biennial Convention of The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism in Schaumberg, Illinois. Your temple dues funds our membership in United Synagogue and I thought it would be worthwhile to give you a sense of what these meetings are like and perhaps a better idea Continue Reading »
A few weeks ago we started a new initiative at Temple Beth El entitled “Guess Who’s Coming to Shabbas”. This program started at Temple Sinai, a Conservative synagogue outside of Philadelphia, and has been adopted by several other synagogues around the country. I wanted to describe the genesis of this program and by doing so Continue Reading »
In 1966, Rabbi Gerson Cohen, who went on to become the Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, delivered a provocative commencement address entitled “The Blessing of Assimilation”. A historian by training, Rabbi Cohen explained that Jews have always incorporated the best of the cultures in which they found themselves residing; from the exile in Babylonia, to the “Golden Age” under Arab Continue Reading »
I imagine that anyone connected to the Jewish world on Facebook has read the moving tribute that business leader, women’s equality activist, and author, Sheryl Sandberg has written about her husband, Dave Goldberg, who died suddenly in a tragic accident a couple of months ago. In a June 3 post that was widely circulated on Jewish Continue Reading »
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