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The precarious fullness of our joy
October 1, 2025
Rabbi Nathan Martin
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For the past few weeks I have been watching my butternut squash slowly ripen on the vine. While it hung for most of the fall in a dark green shell, more recently the body of the squash gave way to orange streaks of color, and most recently these too gave way to the familiar coffee/tan we associate with the fruit. I have loved the ritual of being present to the slow ripening of the fruit almost mocking me daily for my impatience to see this...Read more...
Rabbi's Note
September 1, 2025
Rabbi Nathan Martin
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As many of you know we have a tradition in the month of Elul as we prepare for the High Holidays to recite Psalm 27. Oftentimes we will sing the Ahat Sha’alti song as a way to connect to this practice, but I wanted to share an excerpt of this psalm as translated by my colleague Rabbi Yael Levy. In her translation of the beginning verses of the psalm (1‐4) Rabbi Levy writes:
To the Beloved,
The...Read more...
Rabbi's Note
May 1, 2025
Rabbi Nathan Martin
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This month of May brings us fully into the rhythm of counting the omer ‐ a reminder of the importance of engaging in spiritual preparation to be able to receive the "Torah" (wisdom of our ancestors) you need to receive this year. My hope for all of us is that we use this month of preparation to draw from our rich spiritual tradition to weather the demands of this moment and to allow us to connect even more deeply to our Jewish identities as...Read more...
Rabbi's Note
April 1, 2025
Rabbi Nathan Martin
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Friends, as we prepare to gather for Pesah, I would like to invite us to remember how the liberation we celebrate is not just from a snapshot in the past; rather, it is a continuous and ongoing process where we are seeking to become liberated from the patterns and behaviors that hold us back from becoming our fullest selves as we also address the many crises of enslavement and oppression that continue to plague the world around us. May we...Read more...
On Leadership
March 1, 2025
Rabbi Nathan Martin
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Friends, this month we embark in our Torah journey through the latter portions of Exodus that include a description of a leadership crisis engendered by the golden calf incident. Leadership challenges do not just show up now. A pattern emerges right after the exodus from Egypt: the people get in a tough spot (usually a lack of food or water on their journey), they complain bitterly to Moses, and Moses then needs to cobble together a solution,...Read more...
Rabbi's Note
February 1, 2025
Rabbi Nathan Martin
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May the stories that we encounter this time of year that shaped our formation as a Jewish people ‐‐ our struggle and liberation from Egypt, our adoption of a code of laws, standards, and ethics ‐‐ continue to inspire us today to turn to our people and tradition for guidance and inspiration as we navigate the difficult and complex waters of contemporary life. May we also be inspired to take on the mantle of Jewish leadership and...Read more...
Facing Our Legacy
January 1, 2025
Rabbi Nathan Martin
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This past March I had the privilege of attending the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association convention held in Atlanta. At the tail end of the convention, I was able to join a smaller group of rabbis on a side trip to Montgomery, Alabama to learn more about the African American experience in our country, from enslavement to the Jim Crow era, and the fight for civil rights. Two particular moments from that experience stood out for...Read more...
A Note from Rabbi Nathan
December 1, 2024
Rabbi Nathan Martin
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I imagine that some of you have read about the debate between the school of Hillel and the school of Shammai about the proper way to light the Hanukkah candles. In the Talmud the positions are laid out as follows:
“The House of Shammai says: On the first day one kindles eight lights and, from there on, gradually decreases the number of lights until, on the last day of Hanukkah, they kindle one light. And The House of Hillel...Read more...
Rabbi's Note
November 1, 2024
Rabbi Nathan Martin
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As we enter into our post Holidays month of Heshvan, it is important to take a moment to share gratitude and thanks for all of the people who have helped make our holidays so meaningful and enriching. We thank those whose work may not often be seen ‐ those who shopped, moved chairs, dropped off Mahzorim, created materials, transported and put out food, cleaned up, made music, sang, read poetry and chanted Torah, got our Zoom and sound...Read more...
Reaching for Sukkoth
October 1, 2024
Rabbi Nathan Martin
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Friends, as you read this column we will be heading into the Jewish month of Tishrei and bringing in the new year. While Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur were holidays that were centered around Temple ritual in Biblical Israel, the holiday of Sukkoth was truly a holiday of celebration. As Rabbi Arthur Waskow notes in his description of the Second Temple Sukkoth celebration in Seasons of Our Joy, “in the days of the Second Temple, Sukkot was a...Read more...
Mon, October 13 2025
21 Tishrei 5786
Today's Calendar
Hoshana Rabah |
Columbus Day Indigenous Peoples' Day |
Simchat Torah Celebration (in person) : 5:30pm |
Candle Lighting : 6:08pm |
Upcoming Programs & Events
Oct 13 Simchat Torah Celebration (in person) Monday, Oct 13 5:30pm |
Oct 15 Morning Spiritual Practice (on Zoom) Wednesday, Oct 15 8:30am |
Oct 15 Mussar (Closed group, on Zoom) Wednesday, Oct 15 2:00pm |
Oct 16 Book Group Meeting Thursday, Oct 16 7:00pm |
Oct 17 Shabbat Services with Rabbi Nathan (on Zoom) Friday, Oct 17 7:30pm |
This week's Torah portion is Parshat Bereshit
Shabbat, Oct 18 |
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Congregation Beth Israel of Media
542 S. New Middletown Road
Media, PA 19063
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Celebrate Shabbat!
Friday Night
Candle Lighting : 6:02pm |
Shabbat Services with Rabbi Nathan (on Zoom) : 7:30pm |
Shabbat Day
Shabbat Services & Tefillah Learning with Rabbi Aviva (in person) : 9:45am |
Israeli Dancing (in person) : 1:00pm |
Havdalah : 7:08pm |
Candle Lighting
Monday, Oct 13, 6:08pm |
Havdalah
Wednesday, Oct 15, 7:13pm |
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