Blog

Tuesday, the first official day of the visit, was long, intense, and sobering. There is much to share, but it’s already late in the evening, and there’s still jet lag to contend with.

The Disbelief is still fresh and raw:

The disbelief of the reserve soldiers who were in Shul on the morning of October 7th, and only checked their phones for possible call-up orders after numerous people independently described what was...Read more...

מִי שֶׁבֵּרַךְ אֲבותֵינוּ אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקב. הוּא יְבָרֵךְ אֶת כָּל הַקָּהָל הַקָּדושׁ הַזֶּה עִם כָּל קְהִלּות הַקּדֶשׁ. הֵם וּבְנֵיהֶם וּבְנותֵיהֶם וְכָל אֲשֶׁר לָהֶם.  

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And God saw everything He had created and behold it was good. Not just good, but tov me’od, it was very good. Inquiring minds of all ages have been intrigued by the word “me’od” and have wanted to know what additional layer of meaning the word might be suggesting.   

R’ Chama bar Chanina proposed that the word suggests that God was so completely taken with the...Read more...

Candle Lighting: 

The first night of Chanukah this year is Sunday night. Women and men are equally included in the obligation to light. Ideally we light our Chanuka lights around 25 minutes after sundown, but later in the evening is also alright. The only place where we can fulfill the mitzvah of lighting is in our own home, or if we are out of town, in the place that we will be sleeping that night. (More on traveling during...Read more...

בתר צלותיה אמר הכי, “after his prayer he would say as follows”. This phrase introduces a series of stories on Daf 17a of Brachot. Each of the stories presents a “post-prayer prayer” that various Talmudic sages composed and personally appended to their daily Amidah. One of these post-prayer prayers is actually the one that we all append to our Amidah to this day. Others of the post-prayer...Read more...

The answer is such a classic, that we rarely pay any serious attention to the question that precedes it.  The answer is, “on a day when the books of life and death are open, would you expect that Israel would be singing?!” 

It’s an important answer, epitomizing the unsettled, even anxious feelings that we bring into the day. But it’s an answer which creates a...Read more...

Dear Community Members,

As we are all aware, there has been a significant increase of COVID cases locally. We are encouraged by the careful adherence to the safety precautions that our synagogues have undertaken in order to enable safe, outdoor, masked and distanced minyanim to continue. These minyanim are COVID-compliant, outdoor events, in line with the latest LA Department of Health guidelines, where we work...Read more...

Beginning Tuesday night July 21, we will transition from the "three weeks" to the "nine days". The conceptual difference between the two is that while during the three weeks we refrain from celebratory and musical events that are beyond the typical daily routine, during the nine days we diminish even simple everyday pleasures. In the words of the Mishna, ממעטין בשמחה, we consciously diminish our joy. The premise of this practice is...Read more...