Rabbi Kideckel's Weekly Messages
Rabbi Safman's Weekly Messages
Dear Congregant,
Towards the end of this past school year each of the students at the Solomon Schechter Academy, my 8-year old son Yair among them, was presented with a large, sealed paper bag or box marked only with the child’s name. They were instructed not to open their parcels until they’d gotten home.
Vayera- 5779
Dear Congregant,
Shemot - 5779
Dear Congregant,
This year on Christmas I encountered God.
Toledot - 5779
Nov 9, 2018 - Toledot 5779
As my younger son Sasson has reached a more assertive and articulate stage, the dynamics between him and his older brother, Yair, have shifted – not always for the better. Many an evening, as I am trying to get dinner to the table, I hear their voices from the next room, the volume and emotion rising to a crescendo until erupting, inevitably, into a crash or sob.
Haazinu - 5779
Dear Congregant,
The other day, as I was preparing dinner in the kitchen, I heard a shriek from the next room, where I had left my two-year old son Sasson snacking on raisins. Suspecting the worst, I run into the room to see him grinning ear-to-ear, raisins scattered liberally over every surface.
“What happened?” I asked him, too astonished even to be angry.
“The raisins jumped!” he responded, laughing.
The raisins jumped off your plate and onto the floor and table?” I asked him incredulously.
Vayeilech - 5779
Dear Congregant,
One of my two-year old son Sasson's favorite games is "chase". It involves him running around the house in circles with Mommy in "hot pursuit" but invariably unable to quite catch him. We persist at this for some time before Sasson tires, at which point he ducks into my mother's room, lies face-down on the floor and "hides" – in full view.
Nitzavim - 5778
Dear Congregant,
This week’s portion, Parashat Nitzavim, contains one of the most beautiful and inclusive images in the entirety of the Torah. It speaks of the entire Jewish people – not just the generation then making its way from Egypt to Israel, not just those individuals born into the Jewish faith, but all Jews or would-be Jews of all generations, past, present and future – assembled as a body by the banks of the Jordan, to re-affirm their covenanted relationship with God.
Re'eh - 5778
Dear Congregant,
As the parent of two young boys, I would very much like to be able to embrace the world view painted by the opening verses of this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Re’eh. The portion begins by asserting, essentially: Make good choices in life, act well and you’ll be treated kindly. Life will be good. But that message rings especially hollow this year on the first anniversary of the Charlottesville demonstrations.
Shofetim - 5778
Dear Congregant,
The Wall Street Journal prides itself on being one of this nation’s “papers of record,” a news source so authoritative that the stories it reports gain credibility by association with its name. But whatever weight the WSJ’s reporting has in other areas, its articles on popular culture rarely get cited – or perhaps even read – even by their own subscribers. It was thus surprising to see the front page of this morning’s WSJ prominently adorned with a striking image of the recently deceased soul music icon Aretha Franklin.
Tue, April 23 2024
15 Nisan 5784
Main menu