Days of Awe at Beacon Hebrew Alliance
08/30/2022 05:07:51 PM
As we approach Labor Day Weekend, the end of summer, and the return of children to the classroom, our thoughts inevitably also turn to the Days of Awe. Rosh Hashanah begins this year at sundown on Sunday, September 26. Kol Nidrei begins at...Read more...
Justice, Holiness and Fraudulence
06/15/2022 11:36:10 AM
What exactly is it, that we Jews are trying to do?
Against considerable odds, the Jewish people have survived for thousands of years, and sometimes it seems that’s all we’re trying to do – hold on in order to pass the venerable baton of tradition from one generation to the next. The task of the living seems to be ensuring that the chain of heritage isn’t broken on our watch.
While...Read more...
The Face Has Already Been Revealed
06/08/2022 04:09:02 PM
Many people who live a "religious life," or aspire to one, pray that God will appear to them in a cacophonous moment of revelation. Every morning in many synagogues, particularly in Israel, Jews hope for a glimpse of the divine presence when they dramatically reenact the Priestly Blessing from Parashat Naso:
May the LORD bless you, and keep you:
May the LORD make His face shine upon you, and be...Read more...
Blemished People, Unblemished Tools by Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson
05/11/2022 04:36:14 PM
Our tradition offers many incredibly valuable ancient understandings of emotional and social reality.
Sometimes, though, ancient sensibilities can feel painfully out of alignment with contemporary values. One of those difficult...Read more...
Yom HaShoah 2022
04/27/2022 03:34:34 PM
Tomorrow, the 27th of the Hebrew month of Nissan, is Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day.
At the risk of stating the obvious, the Holocaust is first and foremost, the murder of six million Jewish human beings, the particular ancestors of...Read more...
Outward Turn of Conversation
04/20/2022 06:44:09 PM
The Torah says that a Jew “must leave the edges of his field and the gleanings of his harvest for the poor and the stranger,” and the Talmudic tradition decided that this particular commandment is an indispensable part of the process for conversion to Judaism.
A prospective convert to Judaism must immerse in a mikva and if male, be circumcised in the name of conversion. Also, the rabbi must inform the convert...Read more...
Passover
04/06/2022 02:08:45 PM
Passover, the Jewish celebration of liberation is coming. Very soon, in fact!
This year, pesach falls on the evening of Friday, April 15, so many people will be taking part in seders (ritualized dinner discussions) on April 15and 16.
At the...Read more...
Talmudic Stories
03/24/2022 12:55:13 PM
When we Jews are described as the People of the Book, the book in question is not the Torah.
The Torah is, for sure, the cornerstone of Judaism, but Judaism is actually constituted through the Talmud, the study of which...Read more...
Divine Community
03/17/2022 04:55:24 PM
For the first time in three years, we read the megilah at BHA last night, and it was simply wonderful.
In 2020, we had our Purim carnival, but by the time we got to the megilah reading, it was clear that we needed to...Read more...
Building Purim Back Better
02/23/2022 03:11:59 PM
Dear Friends:
The last thing we did in our communal home was the Purim carnival in 2020; we had to shut down before we were able to read the megilah together as a community that year. So it's more than fitting that the next time we have the opportunity to gather as a full community will be for the chanting of the megilah this Purim, March 16!
We have the opportunity, and...Read more...
