A pious man had the custom of putting coins in a few different tzedakah boxes before Shabbat each week. He would then pray. For the orphanage, “May God grant that my children and grandchildren never have to be placed there.” Putting in a few coins for the hospital, he would say, “May God help that I should never go to a hospital.” The last box was for the synagogue. He would exclaim, “May the Almighty be compassionate with me and spare me from having to go there.” While it may seem that a synagogue is a place where only giving…
Posts by Rabbi Erez Sherman
The Sukkah
Rabbi Guzik and I asked our son this week, “What do you do on Yom Kippur?” He answered, “You build a sukkah.” While he may have been a few days ahead of the rest of the Jewish world, I also think his answer was fairly accurate. As Yom Kippur concluded with the Neilah service, I watched as thousands of our Sinai Temple family draped their tallitot over their children’s heads, and recited the birkat kohanim, the priestly blessing. The only image I could think of was a sukkah, a sheltering presence above our heads. The Rabbis ask, “If God could…
Are We Ready?
There was a man who was a habitual sinner. There was no sin in the world he had not committed. One day, his conscience tormented him and he decided to repent for his sins. He went to the local Rabbi and confessed all of his transgressions. He told his Rabbi, he knows he deserves a harsh punishment. He was prepared to accept whatever the Rabbi told him. The Rabbi answered him, “After listening to your many confessions and to the description of your sins, here is your punishment…” “I will take a pot of hot lead, and pour it down…
It’s Time
Jack once asked his friend Sam, “Why don’t you wear a watch?” Jack asnwered that he does not need one, because he can always ask someone else the time. “But what do you do if you get up during the night and you want to know what time it is?” Jack responded, “I have a shofar! I simply open the window and start blowing the shofar. Soon the neighbors start yelling. Are you crazy??? Why are you blowing the shofar at 3 in the morning? Then, I know what it is exactly.” Rabbi Simon Dolgin wrote, “We blast more than…
Walk in God’s Ways
Ten years ago, I delivered my senior sermon at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America on parshat Ki Tavo. At the end of a series of blessings and curses, the Torah teaches us that we should “walk in God’s ways.” Maimonides explains that we must attempt to resemble God as much as possible. As God is gracious, so we should be gracious; as God is compassionate, so we should be compassionate; as God is pious, so we should be pious. The command seems so straightforward, but we all know how challenging it is. The month of Elul is about to…
To Believe in Something
Rabbi Harold Kushner was once asked if the Psalms make a spiritual impact on people. His answer, “Only if they listen.” The cynic takes nothing seriously, finds nothing meaningful or sacred. The tribe of Amalek had a single motivation when they aimlessly attacked the Jewish people; to weaken our faith. The Rabbis point out that the numerical value of Amalek is the same as safek, meaning doubt. Rabbi Tazdok HaCohen of Lublin wrote that Amalek was not only a tribe, but it is a quality that may manifest itself in all human beings; mainly, the cynic. A quick perusal of headlines…
To Sit Again
Today, I learn how to sit again. For the last eleven months, I have recited the mourner’s kaddish to honor the memory of my brother, Eyal, of blessed memory. I stood at attention each morning, uttering these sacred words in the Sinai Temple minyan, magnifying and sanctifying God’s Holy name, still in mourning and grief. I learned three lessons as a mourner who stands publicly to acknowledge a loss. You are noticed. You are held. You are comforted. My daughter reminded me several weeks ago, “Abba, you are good at praying the kaddish.” Yet, as the days of kaddish dwindled,…
High Holy Days Are Coming
The sound of the shofar and the ordering of honey are signs that the High Holy Days are approaching. Yet, a little known but significant indication of this season is the daily recitation of Psalm 27, beginning this Shabbat of Rosh Chodesh Elul. We read, “One thing have I asked of the Lord, this I request, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze at the graciousness of God and to visit in his sanctuary.” Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch explains this is impossible! Even the Priests and Levites in the…
The Summer Camp Experience
This week, Rabbi Nicole Guzik and I are serving as Rabbis-in-Residence at Camp Ramah in Ojai, CA. Please enjoy the words that we sent to the families of Ramah campers. While I cannot count the number of times I have put on tefillin, I do know that I have never been witness to or a participant in the process of creating a pair of tefillin…..Until today. How do you answer the question, “What happens at Jewish summer camp?” The typical responses are celebrate Shabbat, learn about and connect to Israel, and create strong Jewish relationships that will last a lifetime….
The Best Teachers Are Our Students
RecentIy, I was impressed when a young child told me that the tooth fairy gives him a $10 allowance for each tooth. I asked him, “What do you do with all that money? He said, “The first time I gave it to tzedakah.” A simple act of reward, transformed into an act of chesed, lovingkindness. Our Torah teaches in the Shema that we must teach Torah to our children. Sefer Hachinuch tells us that if a parent and a child both need to study Torah, the child takes precedence. Repeatedly, we learn more from our children than the lessons we…
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