The Justice We Pursue
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Dear Friends, This has been a hard week. Last week, the Jewish museum, a block from our synagogue, was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti that included an age-old antisemitic slur against Jews. One day later, at a synagogue in New York much like ours, a man disrupted Friday night services, physically assaulting two people. We […]
Eating, and Living, with Purpose
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Dear Friends, During this past week’s Torah discussion at our Shabbat morning services, we discussed the week’s parashah (portion), which, as we approach the Yamim Nora’im, the Days of Awe — Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur — is part of the fifth of the five books of Torah, D’varim, Deuteronomy. Both the Hebrew and English names of […]
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 […]