Parashat Chayei Sarah (the life of Sarah) Genesis 23:1 - 25:18 HafTorah Kings I 1:1 - 31 Dear friends, As we have begun a new secular month and will soon be embarking on another Rosh Chodesh, inaugurating the Hebrew month of Kislev, a month that will end with the celebration of Hanukkah, we continue our close look at the lives of our matriarchs and patriarchs in the Book of Genesis (Bereshit). This week in our triennial reading of the portion of Chayei Sarah (Genesis 24:10-

Parashat Vayera (and He appeared) Genesis 18:1 - 22:24 HafTorah Kings II 4:1 - 37 Lot Fleeing Sodom Dear friends, We have returned from a memorable trip to New Jersey having been with family and friends and attending several Holocaust remembrance events sponsored by the Jewish Federation of South Jersey including a "march of the living" and a riveting production of the play "Dear Esther". Esther Raab, the heroine of the play and the movie "Escape from Sobibor" was one of t

Parashat Lech Leccha (Go Forth) Genesis 12:1 - 17:27 HafTorah Isaiah 40:27 - 41:16 Lech Lecha Dear friends, Greetings from the land of New Jersey where this week, Chris and I are enjoying the company of our families and friends and the beautiful fall colors and weather. Getting away from the everyday routines in our lives and our local environments and catching up with important people in our lives helps strengthen our connections with people and places and energizes us with

Parashat Noach (the man of the flood) Genesis 6:9 - 11:32 HafTorah Isaiah 54:1-10 Dear friends, Thanks to all that helped me make the minyan so that I could recite the Kaddish prayer at my beloved mother Frieda Becker (Freidel Bat Shlomo v Sarah Leah) on the 25th anniversary of her passing. As we continue to move through the Hebrew month of Cheshvan and the early Sedras of the Book of Bereshit (Genesis 8:15-10:32), we come to the story of Noah. After life on earth is nearly

Parashat Bereshit (In The Beginning) Genesis 1:1 - 6:9 HafTorah Samuel I 20:18 - 18:42 Garden of Eden Dear friends, What a wonderful and fulsome Holy Day season we have just concluded! Thanks to all who made everything possible and who attended our many services and events from Selichot and cemetery visits, Rosh Hashanah, Tashlikh, and Yom Kippur services, and all the way through Sukkah decorations and Sukkot observance, Hoshana Rabbah, Shemini Atzeret, and finally Simchat To

Parashat V'Zot HaBerachah (and this is the Blessing) Deuteronomy 33:1 - 34:12; Genesis 1:1 - 2:3 2nd Torah Numbers 29:35 - 30:1 HafTorah 1:1 - 18 Dear friends, We have reached the final weekend of this glorious holiday season with the holy day of Hoshana Rabbah at our services tomorrow (Friday) morning at 9:30 am and the festivals of Shemini Atzeret Saturday at 9:30 am and Simchat Torah at 7 pm. Hoshana Rabba marks the final day of Sukkot, the last time we take the lulav and

Parashat Vayikra 22:26 - 23:4 HafTorah Zachariah 14:1 - 21 Dear friends, It has been an honor and a pleasure to share the High Holy Days with you. Thanks to all who made all of our activities and services so meaningful and enjoyable. And thanks to all who participated in yesterday's volunteer session at Metropolitan Ministries where we help fulfil the mitsvah of Tzedakah, part of the three-part requirement of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Teshuvah (return), Tefillah (prayer

Parashat Haazinu (Listen) Deuteronomy 32:1-52 HafTorah Hosea 14:2-10, Micah 7:18-20, Joel 2:15-27 Dear friends, After a wonderful Rosh Hashanah weekend with thanks to all who brought delicious dishes for our erev Rosh Hashanah dinner and who attended our religious services and Tashlikh ritual and party, we are now in the midst of the most holy period of the year, the week of teshuva/repentance also called Yamin Noraim (ימים נוראים Days of Awe). And we now will experience Sha

Dear friends, Rosh Hashanah and the High Holy Days are upon us! Thanks to all who helped to prepare the sanctuary with our white Torah and Bimah covers and replacing our Shabbat Siddurim with the High Holy Day Machzorim. And thanks to all who participated in our social hour, Havdalah, and Selichot prayers and to Aileen who provided the meal and Eileen who works tirelessly to make it all happen! And blessings to all who attended the cemetery visitations on Sunday. We had a

Parashat Nitzavim (Standing); Vayalech (And Moses went) Deuteronomy 29:9 -31:30 HafTorah Isaiah 61:10 - 63:9 NITZAVIM - VAYALECH Dear friends, All our preparations for the High Holy Days are nearly complete. We have cleaned the sanctuary and throughout this month of Elul we have been listening to the blasts of the shofar and the words of Psalm 27 "The Lord is My Light". And on Shabbat morning following our religious service and Kiddush we will complete the transformation of

Parashat KiTavo (When you come) Deuteronomy 26:1 -29:8 HafTorah Isaiah 60:1-22 Ki Tavo Dear friends, I hope you all had a pleasant week as we continue to quicken our preparations for the High Holy Days. This week, I had the pleasure of meeting with an old friend, the regional Baha'i community leader Tony Quinones. We were honored to host the Baha'i new year celebration of Naw Ruz a few years ago and rediscovered how much we have in common with that religious community. Ton

Parashat Ki Teitzei (when you go out) Deuteronomy 21:10 - 25:19 Parashat Isaiah 54:1 - 10 Ki Teitzei - When you go out Dear friends, Chris and I have just returned from a week in NJ/NY where together with our sister and brother-in-law and cousins fulfilled the mitzvah of Zichronot (remembrance) by visiting, sprucing up, and chanting the Eil Molei Rachamim (אֵל מָלֵא רַחֲמִים) memorial prayer at the gravesites of our relatives and friends and those of the parents of our congr

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