Read Our Rabbis' Weekly Messages

Dear Friends, This coming Monday is the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. We celebrate the full moon of the Fall equinox and the fruits of the harvest. The Sukkah is a […]

Dear Friends, This Shabbat is 9/11. If you ask someone where they were on 9/11, you will hear vivid memories of exactly where they were when the […]

Dear Friends, Tonight, is the last Shabbat of the year 5781. On Monday night we will usher in the New Year 5782. May our spirits, strength, […]

We are honoring you at the High Holy Days Dear Friends, It is exciting that in 10 days we will greet Rosh Hashanah at Caramoor in-person […]

Dear Friends, This week we witnessed the messy end of a 20-year American war in Afghanistan. This has been America’s longest war. More than 2,500 US […]

Mountains of Curses, Mountains of Blessings, and Gold Medals Dear Friends, This week the news of the Delta variant has cast a dark shadow on our […]

Dear Friends, In just six weeks we will greet the New Jewish Year, 5782. It is exciting to be back at Caramoor in-person. Many things will be […]

The Jewish antidote for hatred is a holiday of Love, Tu b’AvDear Friends,Ben and Jerry’s is playing politics with ice-cream. This week they announced a boycott […]

Spiritual Revival Dear Friends, A few weeks ago, at Torah study, Rabbi Greenberg revealed something unexpected. He said, “One of the greatest regrets of my rabbinate is […]

1 AvDear Friends, This past week my wife, Debbie, and I were driving in Manhattan. We were stopped at a red light. Looking up, we saw […]

Jewish July 4thDear Friends, Do you remember where you were on July 4th, 1976? This was the day of America’s Bicentennial and Operation Sail, the country’s largest […]

Summertime Shabbat at Shaaray Dear Friends,George Gershwin, the great composer, grew up in Brooklyn in a Jewish family. His name, at his Bar Mitzvah, was Jacob […]

Full of hope about new Israeli Knesset (government) Dear Friends, I am full of hope about the new Israeli government that began this week. This government […]

Ice-Cream and GodDear Friends, I am thrilled to inform you of our new policy. If you are vaccinated, you can take off your mask. I want to […]

Dear Friends, PRIDE in our Community I am so proud our congregation is Celebrating Pride Shabbat. Reform Judaism was the first movement to champion LBGTQ inclusion. Our […]

Dear Friends, The Roller Coaster The past few weeks have been a roller coaster for our Jewish community. The warfare in Israel has been heartbreaking. The […]

Dear Friends, For the past 10 days Israel has been under constant rocket attacks from Gaza. Missiles have also been launched from Lebanon and Syria. Street […]

Dear Friends, I am in pain. The news from Israel makes me cry. It hurts to see my friends, neighbors and family in Israel suffering. I […]

Dear Friends, Last week Israel experienced its worst peacetime tragedy. 45 people died and over 150 were wounded in a stampede at a Jewish religious music festival […]

Dear Friends, Celebrating “End of Plague” then and nowToday is Lag b’Omer, perhaps the most mysterious day on the Jewish calendar. Lag stands for Lamed Gimel two […]

Dear Friends, Our Exile is ending!The story of the Jewish People is a narrative of Exile and Return.In 586 BCE, the cruel Nebuchadnezzar exiled our people […]

Dear Friends, It is a Mitzvah to Celebrate Israel’s Birthday! For American Jews, the High Holy Days is the time we often feel most connected.For many […]

Dear Friends, Yizkor Remembrance is a Mitzvah This week we marked 76 years since the end of the Holocaust. Why was Yom HaShoah observed this week? The Israeli Knesset […]

Dear Friends, “God is Subtle”Albert Einstein reminds us “God is subtle.” It seems obvious to say “Oh God!” in a moment of high drama, like the awesome […]

Dear Friends, Matzah, Lechem Oni, the ‘Bread that makes us speak up!’ On Saturday night we will lift up a piece of Matzah at the Seder […]