Welcome Shabbat with聽Lecha Dodi performed by Maayan Tzafrir and Twelve Tribes Music. As we celebrate the last Shabbat of 2022, may it usher in a year of peace for all.
Shabbat Shalom
Welcome Shabbat with聽Lecha Dodi performed by Maayan Tzafrir and Twelve Tribes Music. As we celebrate the last Shabbat of 2022, may it usher in a year of peace for all.
Shabbat Shalom
Fess up– Hanukkah is the Jewish Christmas!
Before I continue, I will let those of you gasping for air catch your breath.
Yes, indeed, the rabbi went there! But it is hard to refute the statement. And you know what else? It is okay.
Here in the United States, we have thought longingly of the Christmas portrayed ironically by Irving Berlin- replete with a white (from the snow, that is) Christmas with cards, sleigh bells, and glistening trees. The Coca-Cola Santa Claus brings presents to everyone traveling on a flying sleigh powered by eight reindeer (nine including Rudolph), Christmas Trees, gifts, love, and good cheer. Of course, once the marketers got hold of this, they commercialized the holiday even further. Everyone who ever sang anything now records an album of Christmas songs or has a television Christmas special.
Who wouldn’t want to be a part of this party?
So we have amped up Hanukkah, a minor yet complicated holiday, not even part of the Jewish Bible. Our Acceptance in this country is the great miracle of our time. And if we could place the menorah in the window without fear of retribution, what else might we enjoy? The secularized Christmas is at the center of the American holiday season, bounded by Thanksgiving and New Year’s.
So we are in full bloom- we have Hanukkah bushes, lights of blue and white to decorate the house, and latkes and sufganiyot are now things in the American public space! Giant menorahs are lit alongside the Christmas trees, eclipsing the simple manger scenes of the holiday’s religious roots. It is a mash-up of the best our traditions have to offer, and we all join together in the kind of unity we could only pray might somehow extend to all the other days of the year (either 364 if you are Christian or 357 if you are Jewish).
They say competition is a good thing.聽 And arguably, Hanukkah is a bigger, better celebration because of Christmas.
Let us wish everyone Happy Holidays and a year of bounty and joy. Let us thank God for bringing us to a time when our lights can burn brightly, and we can be with our brothers and sisters; whatever their faith traditions, we are together here in the United States.
I am honored to preside over the lighting of the Chanukah menorah in Philadelphia on December 18, 2022.
Join us via zoom as we rededicate ourselves by the Boat Houses on the Schuykill River.
Check the Federation website for details and to register. www.JewishPhilly.org
Hashkiveinu is the second prayer we utter after the Shema, asking the Divine for protection through the darkness of the night and our vulnerability as we sleep.
This rendition is sung by Cantor Magda Fishman.
Shabbat Shalom
This Shabbat coincides with Veteran’s Day.
Shalom Aleichem seems a particularly appropriate prayer. The Barcelona Gipsy Klezmer Orchestra combines several influences from their home in Spain and Ashkenaz.聽 May the music lift our hearts to welcome Shabbat.
Wishing everyone Shabbat Shalom
The prayer, performed by Andrea Bocelli and Ilaria Della Bidia, is a wonderful way to bring in this Shabbat.聽 With all of the turmoil and challenges to peace here, Israel, and around the world, the Prayer is our hope for this Shabbat.
I pray you’ll be our eyes
And watch us where we go
And help us to be wise
In times when we don’t know
Let this be our prayer
When we lose our way
Lead us to a place
Guide us with your grace
To a place where we’ll be safe.
I pray we’ll find your light
I pray we’ll find your light
And hold it in our hearts
And hold it in our hearts
When stars go out each night
When the stars go out each night
Remind us where you are.
Let this be our prayer
Let this be our prayer
When shadows fill our day
When shadows fill our day
Lead us to a place
Guide us with your grace
To a place where we’ll be safe.
A world where pain and
sorrow will be ended
And every heart that’s
broken will be mended
And we’ll remember we
are all God’s children
Reaching out to touch you
Reaching to the sky.
We ask that life be kind
We ask that life be kind
And watch us from above
And watch us from above
We hope each soul will find
We hope each soul will find
Another soul to love
Another soul to love.
Let this be our prayer
Let this be our prayer
Just like every child.
Just like every child.
Needs to find a place
Guide us with your grace.
With your grace
Give us faith so we’ll be safe
Needs to find a place
Guide us with your grace.
Give us faith so we’ll be safe
This coming year, may each of us strive to be just a little better- loving and kinder- to each other and to ourselves.
This beautiful message from Central Synagogue in New York is a wonderful way to welcome Shabbat
Shabbat Shalom
This special Shabbat, between Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur, is Shabbat Shuva, the Shabbat of Repentance & Return.
Shabbat Shalom
Sometimes making it through a year is heroic.聽 The struggles of day-to-day life, frightening world crises, fraught personal relationships, and even making a living presented overwhelming challenges this the past y.ear
For me, Leonard Cohen’s Halleluyah is an anthem speaking to triumph, but like most hard-fought battles, the victorious also depart the field scarred and sometimes bloody.聽 Victory is bittersweet and comes at the cost of leaving us forever changed.
As we reflect on the past year, there were moments of accomplishment and hardship.聽 As we seek the forgiveness of others, as our tradition requires, we must remember to forgive ourselves.聽 We often fell short of the mark and were less than our best selves.聽 Understanding that and seeking to do better are the first steps to returning to a place where the Days of Awe become an opportunity to start afresh.聽 Forgiveness that admits our shortcomings and comforts us while encouraging us to do better gives us the strength and vision to make the new year one of hope and possibilities.
L’Shanah Tova Tikateivu, May you be inscribed in the book of life.
Shabbat Shalom
For this final Shabbat of Elul, I share Leonard Cohen’s Halleluyah, among the most moving and beautiful song poems ever written.聽 This version is in Hebrew.