On Monday evening, October 29 our congregation gathered in our sanctuary to honor and remember the eleven Jewish men and women slain at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.…
Reaching Out To One Another There is nothing that comes easier to us than speech. And yet, our tradition understands how fraught speech actually is -- how hard it is…
The Changing Nature of Community “Tell me, Rabbi, how would re-joining the synagogue make my life better?” That question was addressed to Rabbi Paul Kipnes of Congregation Kol Ami in…
Giving the Stars their Names Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson go on a camping trip, set up their tent, and fall asleep. Some hours later, Holmes wakes his faithful friend.…
Did you know that when we are awake, our brain generates 23 watts of energy, enough energy to light up a room? And that by simply opening our eyes, 75…
Earlier this week, Mali Sharon, a fellow congregant, called me to ask if she could share a story with our congregation at Friday night services. Mali had recently returned from…
In 2008, researchers from the University of Chicago and the University of Michigan published a study to try to understand why putting an animal on the label of a bottle…
I and other Chicagoland Rabbis walked carefully, single file, down the narrow, dark and musty passage of the cavern that was part of the Jewish Catacombs of Rome. These catacombs are the…
In the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses assembles the Israelites and recounts the past forty years of their experience together. As we know that experience includes the miracles of the plagues…
I was browsing through the stacks in our synagogue library this week when I came across a book published ten years ago by one Lita Epstein. I had never heard…