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Rabbi's Corner

A Most Beautiful Passage

“Do not urge me to leave you.
Wherever you go, I will go;
wherever you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people,
your God, my God.”

This is one of the most beautiful passages in the Bible, or anywhere. It is said by Ruth to Naomi, her mother-in-law. The heartbreaking situation is that Ruth’s husband, Naomi’s son, died, as did Naomi’s husband and her other son. Naomi is a Jewish woman who had lived in the foreign land of Moab with her family, but now half the family has passed away, and Naomi is going to return to her home in Israel. She tells Ruth to stay in Moab, her home, and marry a nice Moabite guy. Ruth has every right to do this. None of us would begrudge Ruth if she walks away. (more…)

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President's Message

June 2024: President’s Message

As I sit down to write my final Bulletin message as the TBS President, I find myself reflecting on my Jewish identity, particularly as May unfolds as Jewish American Heritage Month. In the spirit of self-reflection, Jewish American Heritage Month prompts us to consider what aspect of our Jewish identity fills us with the most pride. (more…)

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Israel Matters!

Israel Matters! – June 2024

How Can We Keep Dancing?

This is an article about Israeli folkdance. Except it’s not.

For over half a century, Israeli folkdance has been an important part of my life. I chose where to go to college and where I would live based on areas that had active Israeli dance groups. I met my husband at an Israeli dancing session at MIT, and I used nearly all of my 40 years of vacation days to attend Israeli dance events. Israeli dancing is my oxygen – it helps me relieve stress and clear my mind and cope better with those difficult things that go on in our lives. (more…)

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Israel Matters!

Israel Matters! – May 2024

What We Learned on Our Academic Visit to Israel

The article below written by Edward H. Kaplan and Evan Morris originally appeared March 29, 2024 on newsweek.com (https://www.newsweek.com/what-we-learned-our-academic-visit-israel-opinion-1885030). Reproduced with permission for Israel Matters

 We represent a group of 25 Yale faculty who have just returned from a five-day visit to Israel. Our mission was to learn from and make meaningful academic connections with our Israeli counterparts. Much of what we learned and observed astounded us. (more…)

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Rabbi's Corner

40 Years in the Desserts

40 Years in the Desserts

First, a happy and gratified thank you, to all who worked so hard on our “40 Years in the Desserts” celebration.
What a great night it was because of all the hard work of Steve Schulefand and his legendary singers and Lauren Piscitille and her hard-working committee. (more…)

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President's Message

May 2024: President’s Message

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who joined us on March 30, 2024 in honoring Rabbi Scolnic for his remarkable 40 years of service, dedication, and love for our congregation and community. It was a joyous occasion filled with warmth, laughter, and cherished memories. Here is an excerpt of my welcome message: (more…)

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Odds & Ends / Webmaster's Odds & Ends

The Two-Minute Haggadah

A Passover service for the impatient.

By Michael Rubiner March 25, 2013

On Monday night at sundown, Jews everywhere will begin celebrating the first night of Passover. Before they can eat their unleavened meal, though, they’ll have to complete the Seder, a religious service conducted on the first and sometimes second nights of the eight-day holiday that can often seem interminable. In 2006, Michael Rubiner drafted a plan for a shorter, sweeter Seder. His proposal is printed below. (more…)

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Odds & Ends / Webmaster's Odds & Ends

THE RABBINICAL ASSEMBLY PESAH GUIDE

THE RABBINICAL ASSEMBLY PESAH GUIDE 1טתשע”

The Committee on Jewish Law & Standards (CJLS) Kashrut Subcommittee2
Introduction by Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff, Chair, CJLS

Stories play a key role in identifying a religion or nation, especially the ones at the center of a community’s history and ritual, the ones taught to members of the community from an early age and repeated often by adults in rituals and prayers. Such master stories express in easily understandable and emotionally compelling terms a community’s understanding of its origins, its values, and its goals. If one were to compare the view of life and humanity embedded in the master stories of, for example, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism – and the United States, China, and Israel – one would find deep differences in how these various human communities understand who they are as individuals and as a community, what is important in life, and what they should strive for. Judaism’s master story is the Exodus from Egypt, followed by the trek to Mount Sinai and then to the Promised Land of Israel. We leave Egypt not as individuals but as a nation, and we do so only with the help of God. This is very different from the staunch individualism at the heart of the liberalism that has forged most Western countries. At Mount Sinai we engage in a Covenant with God that establishes the basis of our relationship with God – and the duties of that relationship  or ourselves and all our descendants. (more…)

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