To Life: Seven Points of Guidance for The Synagogue Service-going Experience
Erev Rosh Hashanah, Society Hill Synagogue, 5784 By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Judaism is not a religion that is often closely associated with math; most of us rabbis got into this business precisely to avoid it, but I want to get into just a little bit of addition with you. Ready? Tonight’s service is approximately an […]
Welcoming Guests and Embracing Openness: A Reflection on Hachnasat Orchim and the Spirit of Community
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Last year, when we inaugurated this version of our Open House Shabbat, which begins with our first TGIShabbat after a Summer Break and extends through tomorrow morning, Shabbat morning, we did so through a teaching built around the Jewish value of Hachnasat Orchim, the welcoming of guests. We talked about how […]
High Holidays: Making Your Soul a Vessel for Change
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar For those of you, like me, who love a podcast, or who are exploring the medium, I loved being interviewed on the latest Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations podcast. You can listen to it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. It is titled, “High Holidays: Making Your Soul a Vessel for Change.” In it I […]
Ever-Relevant Modes of Interpretation
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar One of the highlights of my summer—besides discovering my four-year-old daughter Lila’s obsession with being in the pool for hours on end; or my seventeen-month-old-Nina’s increasingly adorable pronunciation of Aba (dad, in Hebrew); or the few extra hours here and there that I’ve gotten to spend with Caroline… Okay, so one of the professional highlights […]
Judaism Says: You Are Capable Of More Than You Know
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Each and every week this summer I’ve been experiencing such richness as part of our Shabbat (Saturday) morning Torah discussions. Our services start at 9:45 am, and then by 10:30, after about 45 minutes of opening prayers, reflections, and songs, we reach our Torah service, and before taking out the Torah […]