Rabbis almost never find themselves at a loss for words. I must however confess that today I felt I had no words. Saying good-bye to a friend that for the past eight years has been so much more than just my colleague was one of the hardest things I have had to do in recent years. 

Rabbi Jeremy Wiederhorn and his family have moved to start a new Pulpit in Westport Connecticut. Jeremy truly is one of the best friends that I have ever had. When I left Mexico, I never imagined I was going to find such a good friend when I came to Las Vegas, and now as he begins a new part of his journey as a Rabbi. I have no other words for him but — Thank You! Read the rest of this entry »

For some reason I feel compelled to write a note about a movie I just watched. I must admit that even though my major in college was in journalism and communications, I am not much of a movie critic. I like all sorts of movies. Without a doubt, my favorite kind is shoot-‘em-up movies and the occasional well done comedy. 

Why do I like action films? Why do I love comedies? Well for one, I see enough drama in my everyday life that when I go to the movies, I just want to sit back, relax and enjoy. 

I just came back from watching “You don’t Mess With The Zohan.” I am still trying to figure out what I think. Read the rest of this entry »

During our Kabbalat Shabbat at 7:30 PM this evening, we will have the opportunity to listen to a wonderful speaker with a unique message. Randy Neal is the Western Regional Coordinator for Christians United For Israel (CUFI), a national coalition of pro-Israel churches, ministers, Para-church organizations and individuals that serves to mobilize and equip Christians to tangibly stand with Israel. Read the rest of this entry »

This Shabbat we will once again read the story of The Twelve Spies that were sent by Moses to scout The Promised Land. There are a couple of things that we have to keep in mind as we prepare to re-acquaint ourselves with this Biblical Story. 

First, it is important to remember that God is the one who instructs Moses to send scouts to take a look at the land but perhaps the most important thing to remember is that Moses, just as instructed by God, appoints a representative from each one of the tribes. I have always found this story to be not only interesting but also very ironic. 

I am sure that many of you are familiar with the popular saying, “Wherever you have two Jews, you have three ideas!” So what exactly was Moses thinking, better still, did God really believe that 12 people were going to find a consensus as to what they thought the land looked like?  Read the rest of this entry »

I am so proud of The Masorti Movement in Israel! They have launched a major campaign promoting themselves as an alternative to The Orthodox Monopoly on Marriage in Israel. As you can read in the press release, our movement in Israel has detected something that has been going on and was un-addressed for so many years. 

When young Israelis that have no contact or connection with Orthodoxy want to get married, many, really MANY of them, opt out by going to Cyprus and other countries and having just a civil ceremony. Something had to be done and now IT IS BEING DONE. Read the rest of this entry »

Last week I had the wonderful opportunity of leading a group of members of our congregation to the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington D.C. If you have never attended an AIPAC policy conference, I must tell you — you are absolutely missing out on one of the most energizing and powerful events that exist in the realm of Israel activism, not only in the United States but throughout the world. Read the rest of this entry »

This Shabbat, we will read Parashat Naso, which is the largest Torah portion in the entire Torah. We could certainly spend hours studying and understanding the numerous concepts that appear in this Parashah.  Among other things, Parashat Naso contains the explanation of The Ordeal of The Sotah, the explanation for the Vows of The Nazarites and The Priestly Blessing.  

Rather than talking about The Torah Portion for this week, I would like to share some of my thoughts on The Haftarah for Parashat Naso. The Haftarah for this Shabbat tells the story of the remarkable birth of one of our Biblical Heroes — Shimshon (Samson). The reason why we read this particular Haftarah on this Shabbat is due to the link between Shimshon being a Nazarite himself (having taken that vow) and the description of The Vow of The Nazarite contained in Parshat Naso.  Read the rest of this entry »

This past Tuesday, June 3, 2008 I experienced one of the most exhilarating moments of my life. Thanks to the friendship and generosity of Congresswoman Shelley Berkley, one of our Temple Beth Sholom’s most prominent members, I was invited to deliver The Opening Prayer at The U.S. House of Representatives. Read the rest of this entry »

This week we began reading Parashat B’midbar, which owes its name to The Book of The Torah that we began reading this week: Sefer B’midbar. B’midbar is an incredible turning point in The Torah because it takes us to a completely different level of understanding of what our relationship with God should be as Jews. Parashat B’midbar is always read on The Shabbat that precedes The Holy Day of Shavuot. This in and by itself tells us much about the nature of revelation. Shavuot commemorates the gift of Torah by God to The Children of Israel. Why did God choose The Wilderness to give us The Torah? The context of B’midbar is one of wilderness and wandering. 

The years that we spent in The Midbar (The Wilderness) were years of tremendous growth — both physical and spiritual. It was a time of wandering and yearning. Some of the most precious things in life are not automatic. Sometimes to understand what a gift or a blessing really means, we have to detach ourselves from all extraneous influences and thoughts. Read the rest of this entry »

On Sunday June 8, 2008, we will be hosting one of the most wonderful programs that we have had at Temple Beth Sholom during the year. If you still haven’t heard, we have a group of eight children from Israel who are students at The Schwartz Conservatory in Kiryat Bialik (near Haifa). These eight children are not only extremely talented and have won numerous international prizes for their music — they represent a new generation of Israelis! They will perform not only beautiful classical music but will also make us rejoice an experience profound joy through the haunting melodies of our People’s music. Read the rest of this entry »