DJC Blog, Rabbi's Message

Miriam’s Cup: A Letter Against Annexation and the Brokenness of The Three Weeks

As summertime usually brings vacation and swimming, juicy summer fruit and the stretch of long, sweetly lazy days, as a young person, I always found it to be such a bummer that in the Jewish calendar, the three weeks from…

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Torah Study: An Intentional Space for Growth and Community

A Special Article in Preparation for Shavuot by Colleen Morawetz Every other Thursday evening since January, I’ve been doing something I never seriously expected of myself – group Torah study. Our nine intellectually curious and emotionally intelligent participants take turns…

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Wake Up and Smell the Blintzes!

Whether your connection to Jewish celebrations comes through brisket-making Ashkenazi lineage, Moroccan-heritage lamb and couscous tagine or Sephardic pastelicos (meat and rice pies), to name but a few meaty Jewish cultural delights, the upcoming chag (holyday) of Shavu’ot puts a…

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Do you know when the first Seder took place?

Do you know when the first Seder took place? Stop reading for a moment – what do you think? Perhaps you imagine the Israelites in the wilderness, with Mitzrayim/Egypt behind them and the wide, open desert in front of them…

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Purim, Pipelines and a Paradigm Shift

It never ceases to amaze me that whatever Torah reading or holyday we are encountering in the Jewish calendar, it conveys valuable questions and insights that seem crafted just to address this exact moment.  So, with Purim around the corner…

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Tasting Trees

Our lives on this beautiful planet depend on trees for oxygen, food, medicine, shelter, climate stability, habitat for wildlife and beauty.  According to scientific research, planting billions of trees around the world could remove two-thirds of all harmful emissions caused…

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I Can See Clearly Now

Welcome to 2020! I have, in my lifetime, occasionally counted down to midnight on Dec. 31st at large and small parties and toasted the arrival of a new secular (Christian calendar, really) year with bubbly beverages and cheers.  That said,…

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Chanukah is Coming! Time for an Oil Change

Chanukah celebrates the Maccabees’ rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem, the Jewish people’s sacred home, and the relighting of the ever-burning menorah within the Temple, after they had been desecrated by the Syrian Greeks in 164 BCE under the oppressive…

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So You’re Scared. What is that Your Business?!

Kol Nidrei Sermon 5780 The theme we’re focusing on this Yom Kippur is The Capacity to Change.  What a valuable theme.  What a challenging endeavour.  On a day that is focused on repentance, renewal and change, it is important to…

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At Home on the Earth

Erev Rosh Hashana Sermon 5780             In the not too distant future, the news is announced – the environmental apocalypse is here.  In 3 days, every continent on planet earth will be underwater.  Religious leaders from around the world address…

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