COVID-19 Plans and Precautions | March 12, 2020
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...
COVID-19 Update | March 8, 2020
Dear Temple Shalom Family,
This evening we were notified by the Newton Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that a parent of a child in our nursery school has been diagnosed with a presumptive case of COVID-19 (Coronavirus). The parent is exhibiting flu-like symptoms. Other information we know at this time:
The children in the family are healthy and have not exhibited any symptoms. The family is following...Read more...COVID 19 Update | March 4, 2020
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...
How Do We Want to be Remembered? | February 9, 2020
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...
How Do We Want to Be Remembered? | January 31, 2020
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...
We Are Jewish: Fighting Back Against Anti-Semitism | October 9, 2019
Like most of my friends and acquaintances in high school, I had a drab blue locker that was located far away from my home room. It was upstairs next to a long row of science classrooms. Everyone knew this was where all the Jewish kids had their lockers. They called it Hebrew Hall.
In my teenage mind, the location wasn’t assigned to me, I chose it. It...Read more...
Building Our Makom Kodesh (Holy Place) | October 8, 2019
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...
With Hope in Our Hearts | September 30, 2019
It was Micah’s first trip to Israel. As we boarded our plane in Paris, I told him I had a secret, which he would learn the moment we arrived in Tel Aviv. During the entire flight, he bounced in his seat, asked me a million questions and begged me to tell him what the secret was. I didn’t. When the plane finally landed, everyone cheered and clapped. Micah turned to me looking confused, and asked, “Why did they do that?...Read more...
Sacred Time Connections | September 29, 2019
“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...
Lights of Liberty | July 18, 2019
Jewish tradition teaches that we must treat the stranger with great care and concern. We find this passage in the book of Leviticus, “When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall do them no wrong. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love them as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Leviticus 19:33-34)
We face a moment of great uncertainty and debate...Read more...
Between Our Souls and Our Breath | June 26, 2019
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.”
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