Looking forward to this 4th of July weekend, let us reflect on the state of multiculturalism in America. As American Jews, we would tend to embrace a definition of Americanness that is vivacious and various; dynamic and diverse. There is no one culture that defines America; rather, our great country is a composite of cultures. […]
About Rabbi Ethan Bair
Posts by Rabbi Ethan Bair:
Shavuot and the Start of Summer
Seven weeks (49 days) after the second day of Passover, rejoicing in our people’s exodus out of Egypt, comes Shavuot, the harvest holiday that also celebrates the receiving of Torah at Mount Sinai. Reading the Book of Ruth, eating dairy foods, decorating our homes with leaves and branches, feeding the poor and learning Torah are […]
A Prayer for Yom HaShoah
Every year Yom HaShoah comes and one is confronted once again with the enormity and horror of the Holocaust, the real experience of millions of people murdered at the hands of the Nazis (six million Jews and millions of gays, gypsies, differently-abled people, dissidents and others), and we are asked to imagine the reality of […]
Introducing Strategic Planning
In Temple Sinai’s Leadership Development Institute with twenty members of our congregation involved, Lynda Goldman and I have been engaging members in best practices for leadership. This class is dove-tailing very nicely with the Strategic Planning Committee that begins its work this month. The SPC will eventually be engaging all Temple Sinai members in focus […]
On Purim
This week in much of the adult learning I have facilitated, we have wrestled with questions of boundaries. I spoke at a Christian college in Reno last week and had the students compare the words of Rabbi Hillel and Jesus. Rabbi Hillel said: “What is hateful to you do not do unto others.” For Christians, […]
Shabbat Service Times at Sinai
This Friday Rabbi Menachem Creditor is coming to Temple Sinai. Please join us for a Chavurah Shabbat- organized dinner to follow, open to the whole community (6:00 p.m. service, 7:00 p.m. dinner). And please join us on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. for his talk on “Obligation in Liberal Judaism,” followed by appetizers and a musical […]
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Shabbat 1/15/16
We are thrilled to welcome you all to Temple Sinai in prayer, in hope, in fellowship and friendship and in observance both of the celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights movement he led in this country and in quiet reflection of the heaviness of American history when it comes to […]
Our Children Are Our Builders
Rabbi Elazar said Rabbi Hanina said: Torah scholars increase peace in the world, as it is said: ‘And all your children [banayich] shall be taught of Adonai, and great shall be the peace of your children.’ (Isa. 54:13) Do not read your children [banayich], but your builders [bonayich].” -Talmud Brakhot 64a Today in Talmud, after […]
All good things in 2016!
Dear Sinai Community, As 2016 kicks off, we have a lot of great Temple Sinai events and Jewish holidays to look forward to. In our Torah, we are moving from the end of the Book of Genesis into the Book of Exodus this Shabbat. As we transition in our Torah from the story of Jacob’s […]
Grow Your Light!
Beginning on Sunday night, we will light the Chanukiah, and the light will grow each night. The growing light of the Menorah symbolizes our individual and collective growth as well. As we keep alive the light in every generation, we also keep alive our hope for a personal and communal future even brighter than our […]