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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...
Rabbi's Note/Blessing
September 1, 2024
Rabbi Nathan Martin
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As we move into the Hebrew month of Elul, the month preceding our High Holy Days, may we each take in the message that turning toward wholeness in the world begins with turning toward wholeness in our hearts. May we each be strengthened in this work, held in each others' love and God's love to do this important work. And may our individual efforts toward wholeness contribute towards a larger wholeness in the world.
9 Av ‐ The Beginning of Teshuva
August 1, 2024
Rabbi Nathan Martin
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In his spiritual preparation guide for the High Holidays entitled This is Real and You are Completely Unprepared, Rabbi Alan Lew z"l starts his reflections with the Jewish holiday of the 9th of Av, the moment that we mark the calamitous destruction of the Temple and our subsequent exile. (The holiday also encompasses later tragedies of exile and destruction as well.)
Rabbi Lew considers 9 Av, which falls exactly 7 weeks before Rosh...Read more...
Wed, May 14 2025
16 Iyyar 5785
Today's Calendar
Upcoming Programs & Events
May 14 Morning Spiritual Practice (on Zoom) Wednesday, May 14 8:30am |
May 14 Reflection Circles with Rabbi Linda (on Zoom) Wednesday, May 14 7:30pm |
May 15 FUSE: Courageous Conversations (at Twentieth Century Club) Thursday, May 15 7:00pm |
May 15 Membership Committee Meeting (On Zoom) Thursday, May 15 7:30pm |
May 16 Shabbat Services with Rabbi Linda (on Zoom) Friday, May 16 7:30pm |
This week's Torah portion is Parshat Emor
Shabbat, May 17 |
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Celebrate Shabbat!
Today's Sefirah Count Is 31
היום אחד ושלשים יום שהם ארבעה שבועות ושלשה ימים לעמר |
Friday Night
Shabbat Services with Rabbi Linda (on Zoom) : 7:30pm |
Candle Lighting : 7:52pm |
Shabbat Day
Shabbat Services with Rabbinic Intern Kendra Saperstein (in person) : 9:45am |
Havdalah : 9:01pm |
Candle Lighting
Friday, May 16, 7:52pm |
Havdalah
Motzei Shabbat, May 17, 9:01pm |
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