The Messenger Matters
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Dear Friends, Last week, in our weekly Torah discussion, we discussed Parashat Devarim, the Torah portion known as Devarim, which is the first portion of the fifth and final book of the Torah. The book’s Hebrew name is also Devarim (the first Torah portion of each book of the Torah is […]
The Danger of Passion Without Pause
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Dear Friends, Over the past couple of weeks we’ve been encountering some difficult material in the Torah during our weekly reading on Shabbat, material all Jewish communities all around the world read according to the same schedule. Each week at Society Hill Synagogue, we take a look at the parashah (the […]
A Decade Ahead: Continuing the Journey Together
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Dear Friends, If you attended our Congregation Annual Meeting in June, read Lisa Eizen’s — our immediate past synagogue President — recent Kesher article, or perhaps attended one of our TGIShabbat Friday night services in May, would have encountered the following news: the Society Hill Synagogue lay leadership and I reached […]
Is the American Jewish Story Different?
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Dear Friends, The tradition, as I have done before, is to write on the 4th of July — especially on the semiquincentennial, the 250th anniversary of this country’s independence — about the hopes and ideals upon which this nation was founded; perhaps about the complications and shortcomings in the lived reality […]