Author: Temple Sinai

Sen-No Rikyu was a 16th century Japanese sage, the greatest master in the art of hosting guests in the Tea House that ever lived. A disciple once asked him: “What precisely are the things that must be kept in mind at a tea gathering?” Rikyu answered: “Make a delicious bowl of tea; Lay the charcoal…

This Shabbat is the start of a new year for our weekly reading of the parashat hashavua – the weekly Torah reading. Among many other things, the weekly parasha is a unique – perhaps Divine – marker of time. Our lives and the events of our week so often seem somehow to connect to, reference as allusion, or otherwise assume some…

These last couple of days during our Sukkot holiday, the words of our daily evening prayer have echoed in my head: “ufros aleinu Sukkat shlomecha, God, please spread over us the “Sukkah”, the shelter, of your peace.” The prayer expresses a feeling and a need that I think we all share. There is rarely a day…

The Soulful Architecture of the Sukkah “The mother art is architecture. Without an architecture of our own, we have no soul of our own civilization.”— Frank Lloyd Wright I don’t know if Frank Lloyd Wright ever sat for a meal in a sukkah. If I could, I’d invite him along with the ushpizin*, just to see what…

Shabbat shalom for this “Shabbat Shuva”! One of the most intriguing – and hopeful – aspects of the High Holiday season is the designation of Rosh HaShana as “Hayom Harat Olam”, the day on which the world was called into being, the day on which it was conceived. Given the heavier themes of the holidays to…

This is our last Shabbat of the year, just before Rosh haShana.  Our weekly Torah portion, Nitzavim, is a great help in preparing us for the holidays to come. In fact, the Reform and Reconstructionist High Holiday prayerbooks include a section of this week’s Torah portion as an alternative Torah reading for Yom Kippur Day. Heeding its…

This is a very important time of year for Jewish communities everywhere, and for our community as well. Many of you have already renewed your Temple Sinai membership for the new year. Some of you are becoming members again after a hiatus from the synagogue. And we are welcoming a few new members to our…

This week’s Torah portion, Eikev, records another wonderful speech by Moses to the People of Israel. “What it all boils down to is this,” Moses seems to say as he tries – yet again – to explain the covenant and the way of life expected of the nation now living free and about to enter in its…

This week’s Torah portion, V’etchanan, includes some Hebrew words that, if a person in their life utters any Hebrew words at all, these words are probably among them: Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad… “Hear O’Israel, Adonai is our God, Adonai is One.” I’m curious what these words – so familiar – really mean to us? From…

Shalom Chaverim! Oftentimes the simplest things are the best. Sometimes they are the most important, too. Take for example this week’s Torah portion which begins the last of the five books of the Torah. The world calls this book “Deuteronomy” which we can sort of understand from its Latin and Greek roots: deuteros meaning “second” (as in…