Dear Friends: Did you know that Thanksgiving was a Jewish holiday? Ok, it is not technically Jewish, but it does cover many of the themes of a true Jewish holiday: family, food, and guilt. More seriously, giving thanks is a big piece of Jewish practice and any holiday that encourages it is in keeping with […]
About Rabbi Benjamin Zober
Posts by Rabbi Benjamin Zober:
Our Book, Our Simcha
Dear Friends: There once was a rabbi who remarked, “I’m glad to see you at services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but I’d rather you celebrate Passover, Purim, and Simchat Torah.” Passover and Purim make sense: tales of triumph over evil, exciting stories, and delicious foods. But Simchat Torah? What even is it and […]
Sounds of S’lichot
I asked myself: who’s listening to these words of confession? Magnificent Ear of the universe, are You my personal confidant? Or am I just talking to myself? Then I got it: the question is a diversion — to distract me from hearing who I really am. Dear Friends: I first encountered S’lichot at Plum Street […]
Prepping Early for the High Holidays
Dear Friends, It is hard to believe, but the season of preparation for the High Holidays is almost upon us. Starting on Saturday evening with Tisha b’Av, the observance of the date when the Temples were destroyed and Judaism as we knew it changed irrevocably, we launch ourselves into the frenzy of the fall. This […]
Letter Home From Camp
Last week, Rabbi Sara and I went to camp. In so many ways, it was like summer camp that I attended as a child: campfires, songs, hikes, swimming (and some Judaism – I went to a Jewish overnight camp). Camp was always one of the most accepting places I went to. Away from home, away […]
Adult Ed and Aveilut
Dear Friends, As we move into the summer months we are beginning a new phase of adult education. Our first offering, moving into the time of mourning before Tisha B’Av, is Death and Dying in the Jewish Tradition. Over the course of five Sundays, we will examine both the rituals and practices associated with death […]
Security Update
Dear Friends, After the terrorist attack in Poway, CA, we have all been asking questions about our safety and our future. We have been forced to examine how we do business at the Temple, how we secure our entrances and exits, and what we need to do to keep everyone safe when they are here. […]
Seder? Say yes!
In some communities, the highlight of the Passover seder is when participants gleefully brandish leeks, and “whip” each other with them to playfully recall our bondage in Egypt. In other places, people pour water on the floor, lift up their coats, and recall the towns they’ve traveled through. Others still, recall this liberation and other […]
Gathering for Grief
Dear Friends, “I put down these memorandums of my affections in honor of tenderness, in honor of all of those who have been conscripted into the brotherhood of loss…” Edward Hirsch Part of living in a Jewish community is caring for one another. Jewish tradition knows this and memorializes it in our rituals. When one […]
Planting for the Future
We are a long-sighted people, we Jews. The Torah often commands us to provide, in some way, for our children, our children’s children, and sometimes out to the thousandth generation. We have a strong sense of our need to continue thriving, but how do we go about doing that? In the Talmud, in tractate Taanit […]