Announcements

This Sunday is the fast of the 17th of Tammuz (schedule below), which begins the period known as the “Three Weeks.” Please click here for a FAQ for the halakhot of the Three Weeks. It is a rabbinical mitzvah to fast and those able to fast should do so. However, this Sunday’s fast day is a nidcheh - a delayed fast day since the actual 17th of Tammuz is on Shabbat - which allows for justified leniency for those for whom fasting...Read more...

Parshat Beha’alotekhah begins with the kindling of the Menorah. The Torah teaches:

דַּ בֵּר֙ אֶֽל־אַהֲר֔ןֹ וְאָמַרְ תָּ֖ אֵלָ֑יו בְּהַעֲלֹֽתְךָ֙ אֶת־הַ נֵּר֔תֹ אֶל־מוּל֙ פְּנֵ֣י הַ מְּ נוֹרָ֔ה יָאִ֖ירוּ שִׁ בְעַ֥ת הַ נֵּרֽוֹת
Speak to Aaron, and tell him, 'When you light the...Read more...

As we shared before Shavuot via email and on Shavuot before Yizkor, our community at Shaarei Tefillah has a special opportunity this year to coordinate our Shavuot Yizkor Appeal with the OU’s campaign called “Shuls for Ukrainian Jewry.” How does the campaign work? Each shul that participates designates a particular organization as the recipient of the funds that it raises. We raise money for that organization either...Read more...

Last week, we read parshat Acharei Mot; this week, kedoshim. Often the two parshiot are conjoined, though not this year. There’s an old rabbinical saw that goes “acharei mos -> kedoshim” – i.e., after someone dies, their flaws are forgotten and they become solely holy. The American poet Carl Sanburg (1878-1967) expressed a similar idea at the end of his 6 vol. biography of Abraham Lincoln: “A tree is best measured when it is down...Read more...

The last days of Pesach outside the Land of Israel are referred to as: Shivii Shel Pesach and Acharon Shel Pesach, respectively. This year, because there was no Shabbat Chol haMoed Pesach, some of our practices, such as reading Shir HaShirim, take place on Shevii Shel Pesach. The 7th day of Pesach commemorates the splitting of the Red Sea and the Children of Israel passing through to the other side, symbolizing that the journey from bondage...Read more...

Nediv Lev - A Giving Heart is the opening theme of Parshat Vayekhel, as well as of Parshat Shekalim, and even is the driving principle of Chodesh Adar and Purim. The Mishkan—the place of God’s indwelling presence was built through generosity of spirit. The people of Israel were counted by their generosity. And the Jewish people likewise are redeemed in times of trouble...Read more...

What do you do each day? Of course, we all eat, sleep, and care for ourselves and our family. If we are students in school, we study; if we are in our work years, we work; if we are retired, we have choices to make regarding how to fill our time. There has never, however, been a time that I can recall more Jewish choices for all of us - students, workers, retirees - about what we can Jewishly do each day. Certainly, daily davening continues,...Read more...