Thoughts for Our Nation’s Semiquincentenniaal: Mutual Dependency and the Value of Independence Like parents of most American young people these days, I’ve listened to the soundtrack of “Hamilton” a lot. I’m not an expert, but I know this musical well enough to embarrass my twentysomething children whenever I try to sing it. A few years ago, […]
What Makes This Shabbat Different From all Other Sabbaths? For everyone who finds choosing between Shabbat dinner and Shabbat services stressful, we are happy to say we have you covered this week. There is no Shabbat evening worship at TAI tonight; instead, our Shabbat service will be at 10 a.m. tomorrow. So enjoy Shabbat dinner […]
Tallis Tales: A Request for Prayer Shawl Stories GOD said to Moses as follows: Speak to the Israelite people and instruct them to make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments throughout the ages; let them attach a cord of blue to the fringe at each corner. That shall be your fringe; look […]
‘Remember the Ladies’: Voice and Representation on Sisterhood Shabbat As we reflect on the upcoming 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, let us consider these words from Abigail Adams to her husband John in the spring of 1776: “Remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. […]
Shoulders: A Call to Share the Load “God said to Moses: ‘Accept these offerings from them for use in the service of the Tent of Meeting, and give them to the Levites according to their respective services’. Moses took the carts and the oxen and gave them to the Levites. Two carts and four oxen […]
Giving: Celebrating Our Confirmands and the Meaning of Shavuot Tonight is a threefold celebration: Shabbat, Shavuot and Confirmation. It is easy enough to confuse Simchat Torah with Shavuot. The first focuses on Rejoicing (simcha) in the Torah and the second focuses on the Giving (matan) of the Torah. In the Progressive Jewish world, we teach […]
Wholeness: The Weakening of the Voting Rights Act and a Religious Call to Action “Take a census of the whole Israelite community by the tribes of its ancestral houses, listing the names, every male, head by head. You and Aaron shall record them by their groups, from the age of twenty years up, all those in Israel who are […]
Requesting Release: A Prayer for the Sabbath of Mother’s Day This week’s Torah portion, B’har-B’chukotai, includes the famous verse that inspired the engraving on the Liberty Bell: “Proclaim liberty throughout the land.” (Leviticus 25:10). Most Torah commentaries use the word release instead of liberty. Release from indentured servitude, debt and generational poverty. The teaching could not be better timed. Coming on the […]
Qualified: Hadassah Shabbat and Another Historic First for Women’s Leadership It is poetically fitting that during the week we celebrate Hadassah Shabbat in Lexington (services tonight at 6 at TAI and tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. at Ohavay Zion Synagogue), there has been a significant step forward for women’s equality in Israel. Thanks to organizations like […]
Our Centennial, Your Big Night Tonight we celebrate the 100th anniversary of our sanctuary and a century here at North Ashland Avenue. The planning committee started meeting more than a year ago, the choir has been practicing for months. Photos and documents have been collected, a slide show has been organized, food has been prepared, and worship booklets printed. Now the […]
