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...
Reopening for Purim 2022
02/10/2022 12:58:24 PM
אם אתה מאמין, שיכולין לקלקל, תאמין שיכולין לתקן.
If you believe it can be broken, believe it can be repaired.
So teaches Rebbe Nachman, illuminating a hard, but essential spiritual truth.
Read more...
In Person Again
01/26/2022 04:46:11 PM
For all of us, these past few years have been an unpleasant object lesson in the old Yiddish adage, “Mann Tracht, Un Gott Lacht” - Man Plans and God Laughs.
We’ve all had plans adjusted, readjusted and canceled...Read more...
Defending the dwelling place of God
01/20/2022 12:12:29 PM
Like many of us, I was horrified and terrified by the news from Texas this weekend.
I was afraid for the life of Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker and his congregants,afraid about the increasing violence that Jews...Read more...
Where we've been, where we are and what the future holds for us together
12/15/2021 11:14:18 AM
For 100 years, the small, amazing community of Beacon Hebrew Alliance has been the home for loving, creative Judaism. See where we've been, where we are and what the future holds for us - together!
To donate to the Kol Nidrei campaign visit here.
Read more...Parshat Miketz
12/01/2021 12:52:13 PM
For the ancient rabbis, famine was worse than war: while the sword is quick, hunger kills slowly and painfully. Yet despite famine’s early warning signs, many governments, both ancient and modern have failed to plan for food crises. As a result, millions have...Read more...
Mon, September 25 2023
10 Tishrei 5784
RABBI BRENT SPODEK
Rabbi Brent Chaim Spodek has been recognized by the Jewish Forward as one of the most inspiring rabbis in America, Hudson Valley Magazine as a Person to Watch and by Newsweek as "a rabbi to watch." He is a Senior Rabbinic Fellow of the Shalom Hartman Institute and a Fellow of the Schusterman Foundation.
Before coming to Beacon Hebrew Alliance, he served as the Rabbi in Residence at American Jewish World Service and the Marshall T. Meyer Fellow at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in New York.
Rabbi Brent holds rabbinic ordination and a masters in philosophy from the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he was the first recipient of the Neubauer Fellowship. Prior to entering the rabbinate, he attended Wesleyan University and worked as a daily journalist in Durham, NC.
He lives in Beacon with his wife Alison, a professor of environmental chemistry at Vassar College and their two children.
