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Kol Nidre 5771/2010 A Puzzling Question   I received the following email from a very thoughtful and sensitive young person in our congregation.  He agreed that I could share it…

Next week we will celebrate Rosh Hashanah, with its stirring and evocative prayers and melodies.  In our Amidah prayer we will add the verses "zachrenu le hayyim, melech hafetz bahayyim,…

  In the August 7 edition of the New York Times, G. Jeffery McDonald, a minister in the United Church of Christ serving a congregation in Swampscott, Massachusetts, wrote a…

 Parasha Shoftim: Community This week's parasha is Shoftim.  In it, the Israelites are commanded as to what kind of institutions they will need to set up when they leave their…

How does Judaism help us become more independent in mind and spirit? Traditionally, after a bar mitzvah has completed the recitation of the aliyah, the father of the youngster recites…

We are fast approaching the New Year.  The editor of our newsletter, Brad Kolar, assigns us "regular columnists" a topic to write on for each newsletter.  The topic chosen this…

  This week marked a first, I believe, in Naperville history – the placement of a menorah next to the Christmas tree on Naperville's Riverwalk.  Newspaper reports, ever on the…

Six year old Jacob approached me on the bima following a recent Friday night Family service. "This is what it is all about," he proclaimed, "this is the way it…

Tonight is the first night of Chanukah.  I don't know about you, but all week my thoughts have been turned to the image of the heroic champion striding across the…

Chaye Sarah 5770 G-d Blessed Abraham BaKol This week's parasha opens with the death of Sarah and Abraham's purchase of the cave of Machpelah in which she will be buried. …