Parashat Shoftim (Judges) Deuteronomy 16:18 - 21:9 HafTorah Isaiah 51:12 - 52:12 SHOFTIM Hi friends, Shofetim v' Shotrim! !שופטים ושוטרים Judges and Officers! Tzedek, Tzedek, Tirdof! !צֶ֥דֶק צֶ֖דֶק תִּרְדֹּ֑ף Justice, Justice Shall You Seek! This Shabbat we have come to one of the most important chapters (Chapter 16) in the Book of Devarim (Deuteronomy), a chapter that forms the basis for civilization and government in a free society. We are told that justice must be fr

Parashat Re'eh (See) Deuteronomy 11:26 - 55:5 HafTorah Isaiah 54:11 - 55:5 RE'EH - SEE Dear friends, This Shabbat, we continue our preparation for those awesome days of our calendar with our continued Torah reading of the Book of Deuteronomy (11:26-12:28) and chanting of the third of the seven Haftorahs of Consolation leading us from Tisha B'Av and Rosh Hashanah (Isaiah 54:11-55:5). The Book of Deuteronomy consists largely of our greatest Prophet Moses delivers discourses to

Parashat Eikev (Because) Deuteronomy 7:12 - 11:25 HafTorah 49:14 - 51:3 EIKEV Dear friends, I hope you all had a joyous Tu B'Av celebration this week and were able to connect and/or re-connect with loved ones on that "Jewish Valentines Day"! As the summer is flying by, we are only a little over a month until the High Holy Days and fall festivals. And this Shabbat, we continue our preparation for those awesome days of our calendar with our continued Torah reading of the Book

Parashat Va'etchanan Deuteronomy 3:23 - 7:11 HafTorah Isaiah 40:1-26 Nachamu, Nachamu Ani! נַחֲמוּ עַ !חֲמוּמִּי Take Comfort My People! Moses Looking to the Promised Land Dear friends, After observing the sobering commemoration of Tisha B'Av and reading the Haftorahs of Rebuke over the past three weeks, it is now time to celebrate Shabbat Nachamu, the Sabbath of Consolation which launches the seven-week period between now and Rosh Hashanah when we transition f

Parashat Devarim (the Words) Deuteronomy 1:1 - 3:22 HafTorah Isaiah 1:1 - 27 DEVARIM - THE WORDS Dear friends, I hope that you have enjoyed a pleasant summer week. Over the past few years, I have been lecturing in Professor Eric Theodore's comparative religion classes at Pasco Hernando State College. Because the classes have been taught at night, I have only been able to appear virtually on Zoom. However, for this summer session, the class is being held in the afternoon on

Parashat Matot (Tribes) - Masei (Journeys) Numbers 30:2 - 36:13 HafTorah Jeremiah 2:4-28, Jeremiah 4:1-2 THE TRIBES - MATOT MASEI - JOURNEYS Dear friends, I hope you are enjoying the summer season! This Shabbat, we complete our reading and studying of the Book of Bamidbar (30:2-31:54). It takes us through the final period of time in the wilderness as the Children of Israel prepare to enter the Promised Land. One of the important themes concerns the solemnity and binding ch

Parashat Pinchas (Aaron's grandson) Numbers 25:10 - 30:1 HafTorah Jeremiah 1:1 -2:3 PINCHAS Dear friends, Chris and I have returned from our wonderful journey to Delaware and look forward to seeing you all at our religious services and community activities. Now that it is summer and the children of residents at Metropolitan Ministries are home from school, our assistance is needed more than ever to feed so many who are in need, so please consider volunteering with us at our

Parashat Chukkat/Balak HafTorah Michah 5:6-6:8 MOSES HITTING THE ROCK Dear friends, Congratulations to our Vice President, Wendy Seldin on her election to represent Pasco County on the Board of the Jewish Federation of Florida's Gulf Coast. Wendy will provide the Federation with updates on our community and bring information back to us which will result in better communication and support from them. We look forward to our future collaborations with the Federation. This Shab

Parashat Korach (Korach leeds a rebellion against Moses) Numbers 16:1 - 18:32 HafTorah Samuel I 11:14 - 12:22 KORACH Dear friends, Greetings from the tiny, but great and beautiful state of Delaware where Chris and I are enjoying our 56th consecutive reunion with friends and family. Good access to WIFI permitting, we will be joining you tonight at 6:30 pm (note the earlier starting time) and tomorrow (Saturday) morning at 9:30 am for Shabbat services. This evening's religious

Parashat Shelach (Send) Numbers 13:1 -15:41 HafTorah Joshua 2:1-24 Dear friends, it has been an exciting and fulfilling week in our household this week as our middle grandson Nathan graduated from Gulf High School, and we are preparing for our 56th consecutive annual trip to the beach in Delaware where we will spend the next two weeks while spending a couple days in Rockville, Maryland to celebrate our newborn great nephew's bris. So, lots are happening in our family! This S

Parashat Behaalotecha ( When you raise) Numbers 8:1 - 12:16 HafTorah Zachariah 2:14 - 4:7 Dear friends, As we launch our summer season, we continue our reading of the Book of Bamidbar (Numbers) with the first triennial part of the portion of B'haalot'cha which includes two important concepts, that of the Menorah and that of the second Passover or Pesach Sheni (פסח שני ). Originally commanded in the Book of Exodus (25:31-40), the concept of the Menorah and that of light in gen

Parashat Naso (Count) Numbers 4:21 - 7:89 HafTorah Judges 13:2-25 AARONIC BLESSING Dear friends, What a wonderful Shavuot/Shabbat/Memorial Day weekend we had together! From our Tikkun Leil Shavuot session to the reading of Akdamut and the Ten Commandments, to the reading of excerpts of the Book of Ruth prior to our Shabbat/Yom Tov dinner, to the gathering for the Yizkor service, and finally through our volunteering efforts at Metropolitan Ministries, we observed this sanctifi

Parashat Naso (Count) Numbers 4:21 7:89 HafTorah Judges 13:2-25 SHAVUOT 2026 Dear friends, I am back from a memorable and emotional "homecoming" after giving the historical address at my New Jersey congregation's anniversary celebration. Chris and I reconnected with friends that we hadn't seen in person in nearly a decade! Now we are about to embark on the festival of Shavuot שבועות, lit. “Weeks”) which begins Thursday evening, the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan. Sha

Bamidbar (In The Desert) Numbers 1:1 - 4:20 HafTorah Samuel I 20:18 - 42 BAMIDBAR Dear friends, As we wind down our spring season, today we celebrate the holiday of Yom Yerushalayim, which marks the unification of the city of Jerusalem in 1967, the fulfillment of the 2,000 year prayer to return to the Holy City . And then a week later, the major festival of Shavuot will be held. Lots to look forward to! And to help us prepare for the Shavuot Yom Tov, we will hold our Tikkun

Parashat Behar (Mount)-Bechukotai (My Statutes) Leviticus 25:1 - 27:34 HafTorah Jeremiah 16:19 - 17:14 Behar Bechukotai Dear friends, What a wonderful week we just had beginning with the beautiful reception for our region's "Women of Distinction" and of course our own beloved woman of distinction, Ana Calderon. I was spellbound with the inspirational stories of those women chosen to be honored by synagogues and other Jewish organizations in the region. Mazel Tov to Ana wit

Parashat Emor (speak) Leviticus 21:1 - 24:23 HafTorah Ezekiel 44:15 - 31 EMOR Dear friends, After an active week where we co-sponsored and attended the annual scholarship dinner of the African American Club of Pasco, the stirring interfaith program and luncheon at Beth David, and spending a day volunteering at Metropolitan Ministries to help feed and clothe those in need and to spread hope. And today is a special day in our Hebrew calendar, that of Pesach Sheni or the second

Parashat Acharei (after the death of) - Kedoshim (holy ones) Leviticus 16:1 - 20:27 HafTorah - Amos 9:7-15 Dear friends, As we have reached the halfway point between the festivals of Passover and Shavuot and the Counting of the Omer, we are also beyond the halfway point to the High Holy Days which are now less than 5 months away. And to help us get ready, this Shabbat, we read the double portion of Achrei Mot/Kedoshim, the same Torah readings from the Book of Leviticus 16:1-

Dear friends, Chag Pesach Sameach! We launched the festival with a beautiful well attended community seder thanks to much hard work from those that organized and implemented it and to the Federation of Florida's Gulf Coast whose funding helped us to greatly augment it. Now we have reached the intermediate days of the holiday which I look forward to sharing with you beginning with our Shabbat religious services which include the reading of Shir HaShirim (Song of Songs) and

Parashat Tsav (command) Leviticus 6:1 - 8:36 Haf Torah Jeremiah 7:21 - 28, Jeremiah 9:22 - 23 Moses Dressing Aaron in the Priestly Garments Dear friends, As we approach Shabbat Hagadol , the "great" Sabbath immediately preceding the festival of Passover , we are completing an entire season of preparation for the holiday. And in the meantime, we were able to enjoy Sunday's flea market/craft show thanks to the efforts of Debbi Robinson and many others. It was great to me

Parashat Vayikra (and He called) Exodus Leviticus 1:1 - 5:26 Haf Torah Isaiah 43:21 - 44:23 VAYIKRA Dear friends, Thanks to all who have assisted in and attended our variety of spring programs, the last of which was our Havdalah Game Night last Saturday night as we met to bid adieu to Shabbat and welcome the new week with Havdalah and an evening of socializing with our shul community friends while enjoying board games, all of which were new to me! Thanks to Wendy Seldin an