Most of you have heard the news from Israel. For those of you who have sent me emails asking about our family - thank you. All is well. Talia and Moti and the girls were home in the northern part of Israel, Shiri had just left work in Tel Aviv and though Ilan was at that bus stop an hour before the explosion, he is safe at his base. Nevertheless, today’s attack is personal because we all have a stake in Israel and her welfare.
For Shabbat Korach, 3 Tamuz 5775, June 19-20, 2015
Dear friends,
When we tell the story of freedom, we tell a story that leads us through the wilderness to Sinai. And Sinai obligates us. We became free so many centuries ago: free to love our neighbor as ourselves, free to pursue peace, to pursue justice, free to celebrate our holy times, free to learn, to struggle with our faith, to heal a fractured world. We became free and struggled to maintain that freedom through the centuries so that we could be wildly human – forgiving, loving, compassionate, obligated to something grander and bigger than ourselves. Glorious is the freedom that ties us down to a past, a people, a heritage. Wondrous is a freedom that tethers us to the continuity of the generations, to holiness, to a sense of awe. We don’t really long for a life where anything goes, where wild abandonment leads us away from obligation, from belonging to community, to history, to a collective destiny.
I am honored to announce the publication of my new book Omer: A Counting with an introduction by Rabbi Brian Stoller. There will also be copies in the Temple office and the Sisterhood gift shop. For years you have received daily messages from me during the counting of the Omer. I feel in some ways like we wrote this together. When you get a chance, please 'like' my new Rabbi Karyn Kedar author page https://www.facebook.com/karynkedar or subscribe to my blog on www.karynkedar.com to receive this year’s Omer messages. Some will be from the new book and some messages will be from other sources.
Have a healthy and blessed holiday.
Rabbi Karyn Kedar
January 24-27, a group of teens traveled to Washington D.C. to participate in the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC), L'Taken Social Justice Seminar and to help make our world a better place.
Our teens had the opportunity to impact our political process as they shared their views on social justice topics with decision-makers on Capitol Hill. Here are a couple of their reflections:
The RAC L’Taken weekend was one of the best weekends of my life! I met people from all over the country who were very intelligent. I cannot wait to go back to L’Taken next year! - Danny Goldberg
L'taken was one of those experiences that I'll never forget. It was special not just because of the few hundreds of Jews in the rooms, the variety of different programming to learn about crucial issues, the friendships that were made and became closer, or the delivering of speeches to our congressmen. L'Taken mattered so much because for one of the first times in my life, I was able to truly to something remarkable and make a difference in the world. - Ilana Shreiber
Please join us for Shabbat Services at 6pm on Friday, February 21st to hear more about their extraordinary weekend and to celebrate their accomplishments...
Please take a moment to read their lobby speeches...
Please register for the 2014-2015 Preschool year now.
