Community (RH1 5770)
RH1 – Community
It is so nice to see all of you again – I'm always excited when it is Rosh Hashanah again. I think that most of us feel drawn to Rosh Hashanah for one reason or another. Whatever its pull upon you, you are here. There are some who come because they are moved by the majesty of the liturgy, there are some who appreciate being together with family and friends, there are some who are...Read more...
Tikkun Olam (RH2 5770)
The rabbis say Hayom Harat Olam/Today is the Birthday of the World. We live on an amazing planet; what a miracle that life exists on our little marble in space. However, as great as the Earth is it is not perfect. Rabbi Isaac Luria, a great Kabbalist, a Jewish mystic, explain how it is that God could create an imperfect world. He taught that in the beginning God was everything and everywhere; in order to make room for creation, God withdrew...Read more...
Forgiveness (KN 5770)
Each year when we gather together on this most sacred night of the year, I find myself thinking about my relationship with God, with my Judaism, with the Congregation, with my family, friends and colleagues and even my relationship with myself. This is a night for contemplation. Yom Kippur is after all the Day of Atonement, but what does that mean? There is a cutesy, but useful breakdown of the word; it is the day of At-One-Ment, the day we...Read more...
Mortality (YK1 5770)
On Yom Kippur we confront our mortality. We wear white as a sign of the purity that Yom Kippur brings. But white is also a reminder of tachrichin, the white burial shrouds that a Hevre Kaddisha dresses a body in while preparing it for burial. We fast this day in part because it is a mitzvah and in part because it is a tradition and also to help us reach a higher spiritual plane, but also because we are like the dead who do not eat; we forgo...Read more...
Hekhsher Tzedek (RH1 5769)
Hekhsher Tzedek – Pride for Conservative Jews
By Rabbi Randall Mark with material from
Rabbis Morris Allen, Jack Moline & Jack Reimer
I am a Jew and I can say it with pride! I hope that you can too! I am a Conservative Jew and I can say that with pride as well – can you? I realize that it is a harder statement to make. CJ has...Read more...
Relationships & Change (RH2 5769)
RH2: Relationships & Change
Rabbi Randall Mark
Shomrei Torah, Wayne, NJ
In our Torah reading this morning we once again returned to the text of the Akedah, the Binding of Isaac. This section is painful to read, difficult to discuss and important to spend time on. We might think that on Rosh Hashanah, the birthday of the world, that we should be reading the creation story...Read more...
Brachot (KN 5769)
Brachot, Blessings – traditionally a Jew is to say 100 brachot each day. That may sound like a lot blessings, but if you do the shaharit service in the morning, minha in the afternoon and mariv in the evening and recite the appropriate brachot before eating and then Birkat Hamazon after meals, you are most of the way to your daily goal of 100 brachot. So why did the rabbis want us to recite 100 brachot a day? In a word – gratitude. Our...Read more...
Last Lecture (YK 5769)
Yom Kippur Yizkor 5769
Rabbi Randy Mark w/David Hartuel Material from Rabbi Jack Reimer
The Yizkor service begins with the recitation of Biblical verses, “Lord, what are we humans, that You have regard for us, mere mortals, that you take account of us? We are like a breath, our days are like a fleeting shadow. Teach us to number our days, that we may attain a heart of wisdom.” Cognitively we...Read more...
Lists (RH1 5768)
We have become a society of list makers. There are list of and for everything. Have you seen the list of “Ways to Survive Even the Dullest of Sermons”? In case you get bored, let me share it with you!
See if a yawn really is contagious. Listen for a word beginning with 'A' then 'B' and so on through the alphabet. You may get stuck on 'Q' unless the sermon is preaching against homosexuality. Sit in the back row and roll a handful...Read more...Mitzvot (RH2 5768)
Mitzvah
Just last week I had the opportunity to be a part of a historic event, an exciting happening in Conservative Judaism. This past year has seen many complaining about a malaise in the Movement, a reduction of our numbers, a prediction of our demise; but like Mark Twain, the report of our death is an exaggeration. I attended the Inauguration of the seventh Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary...Read more...
