Michael Hafter’s Hatan Torah Speech 5786
I grew up in a little town in New Jersey called Hammonton, which is known for blueberries — and for being the most Italian town in the country. There was a small synagogue — ninety seats. At its peak, the Jewish community in Hammonton was about twenty-four families. When my family moved there, in 1965, […]
#ItTakesAVillage
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar I’d like to share with you the teaching I delivered in honor of our Hatan Torah and Kallat Bereshit this past Friday night, honoring two great annually-selected service leaders in our community, this year, Michael Hafter and Susan Berman: I’m as familiar as anybody else with the by-now dated notion of a hashtag. A hashtag, […]
Susan Berman’s Kallat Bereshit Speech 5786
I have tried many times to reject Judaism, but I have always been pulled back in. The first time was when I was in 10th or 11th grade, at Temple Sinai in Marblehead, Massachusetts – a seacoast town about 20 miles north of Boston. It’s a conservative synagogue – a right wing conservative synagogue. I […]
Relief, Joy, and Peace
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar It is with great relief that I write reflecting on an agreement reached between Israel and Hamas, brokered by the United States, that seeks to bring an end to this two-year war launched by Hamas on October 7, 2023. The deal would bring home all 48 remaining hostages, 20 of […]
Geoff Kelly’s Al Het
For the sins we have committed by not showing up for others, and for the sins we have committed by not showing up for ourselves. For the sins we have committed by holding our tongues at injustice, and for the sins we have committed by contributing to it through our own deeds. For the sin […]