From the Bima Blog

Dear members,

A warm welcome to our High Holy Days. While we are in the midst of a new type of high holiday season, we are so fortunate that we can still come together as a community to celebrate the New Year.

We are blessed by dedicated clergy who have worked tirelessly throughout this pandemic to support our congregation. We are just as fortunate to have such a committed and caring community. Many of you have been lifted...Read more...

In the weeks leading up to our first Zoom Mitzvah at Temple Shalom of Newton, I did not sleep well.  I was a ball of nerves.  Why, you ask? Am I the mother of the Bar Mitzvah?  The Rabbi?  The Cantor?  Nope.  I’m the virtual stage manager and I wouldn’t even be seen on camera.  

My role is to make sure the Zoom links work, the participants are unmuted (and muted!) at the...Read more...

Dear Members of our Temple Shalom family,

In these times of deep challenge we continue to be grateful for our strong community and the ways we are caring for one another. With the Governor’s announcement on Monday that religious organizations are allowed to physically reopen, our congregation is now faced with difficult decisions about how best to serve the needs of our community, understanding that health and safety are always our...Read more...

My childhood seders took place at Harry and Ellen’s house, my maternal grandparents. The evening was loud, long, and delicious. I remember bits and pieces. Harry speed-reading from the Haggadah, a beautiful long table in the formal dining room overflowing with people, and more food than we could possibly eat. Over the years one faded memory stands out.

I’m not sure how old I was, maybe 10 or 11. Old enough to stay awake as guests...Read more...

It’s been a rough week in the world. I’ve been trying to take things day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. And until yesterday, I was mostly managing. Maybe some of you were managing too. But yesterday afternoon, after a week of riding a roller coaster of emotions, after a week of being bombarded by the reality of human fragility and...Read more...

Dear Temple Shalom Families,

One of our most important and cherished Jewish values is the concept of pikuach nefesh. It is our imperative above all else to do everything we can to save lives. Our leadership team made up of clergy and senior staff, our executive committee, and health professionals in consultation with the Newton Department of Health and Human Services has spent the past twenty-four hours determining the best way for...Read more...

Dear Temple Shalom Members

We want to assure you that the leadership of Temple Shalom is actively monitoring the coronavirus as well as government and public health information sources.  We are following the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and preparing a contingency plan for our learning programs, staff, and programming in the event of an outbreak of coronavirus in the Boston...Read more...

When we’re gone, how do we want to be remembered? These words flew through my mind this week, as I read about the death of Kobe Bryant, his 13 year-old daughter, and seven others in a helicopter crash on Sunday. This is the worst kind of senseless tragedy. My heart goes out to the families of all the victims.  In the New York Times, Marc Stein wrote in Bryant’s obit, that he was "a mammoth figure almost from the moment he...Read more...

When my father sold my childhood home, I cried. Never mind that I hadn’t lived there in 10  years - there is something visceral and real about letting go of a place where so many memories were made. And my dad is just like me. Over 50 years later, he still dreams of the row house in Worcester where he grew up. I wonder how many of you dream of places from your childhood that had a “forever” kind of impact on your lives. ...Read more...

“Disconnect to Reconnect.” (1) The tagline caught my attention. I clicked onto the website, and there it was, a getaway called The Digital Detox Retreat. Big bold letters frame a picture of people chatting with one another in a beautiful forest, nary a smart phone in sight. I scrolled down to learn more, blissfully unaware of the irony: there I was imagining a screen-free weekend, but I had to surf the internet to do it.

The...Read more...

In Hebrew word for “breath” is intertwined with the concept of “life.” Early in Genesis, God breathes life into Adam: "Then God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." The final word of this phrase, nefesh - means two things: “soul” - as it is translated here, but it can also mean, “breath” or even “life-force.” 

Read more...