Movie Premiere

Well, as you may remember, I was the rabbi in a new Robert DeNiro, Bruce Willis movie called WHAT JUST HAPPENED.  Trailers are now on the air and on the web and the premiere is in New York on Friday, October 17th.  Very exciting...

Tashlich at the Pacific 2008/5769

Having shared the Rosh Hashanah celebration in the synagogue, many of us met at the beach for the beautiful experience of tashlich.  Th seagulls obviously were on the Jewish calendar as well and knew that we would be tossing bread into the ocean and showed up as a hungry flock.

Tashlich at the Pacific 2008/5769

Israel - 2008

One of the highlights of our trip to Israel was an archeological dig. It was amazing to find and hold items that has not been touced or seen in more than two thousand years!




A visit to Beit Sh'an revealed a stunning and ancient Roman city - complete with an enormous amphitheater, hippodrome and countless streets and houses.



Our guide, Zev, explained the layout and history of the ancient city.

Two men enter the Dead Sea...It's the best weight loss program I know...Ben and I floated - wondering what the life guard was hired to do at a sea where drowning is impossible...



VOS afloat...Enjoying the lowest point on earth - Yam Hamelach - the Dead Sea.

Israel - 2008

Jeep riding on the Golan Heights! We drove along the Jordan River and up to the northern most point where we overlooked three countires at once - Israel, Syria and Lebanon.

After the rough ride on the jeeps, we settled in for a big meal alongside the Jordan River. Betsy sat in the sun and drew the scenery while the rest of us drank coffees and ate fig ice cream.

Israel - 2008

Israel was in full bloom. We rode jeeps along the Jordan River and onto the Golan Heights where we overlooked three countries at once - Israel, Syria and Lebanon.

We enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Tishbi Winery. My dad surprised all of us by being there to greet us!

On the Ancient Steps to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem

Here we sat on the very steps that led the Israelites to the Temple. This is part of a recently discovered section of the Temple Mount (southern wall).

Israel - 2008

A great moment and a great memory - reaching the top of Masada. Seven climbed and seven arrived. Mazel tov to Doreen, Marlene, Art, Bill, Ben, Stan (and me)!

Israel - 2008

Our trip to Israel was incredible. Of the forty three of us, at least half had never been to Israel. To see it through their eyes was wonderful.

This photo brings back great memories of our Shabbat in Jerusalem. (Click on photo if you wish to enlarge it).

Israel in March

I am very excited about returning to Israel in two weeks. It will be Valley Outreach Synagogue's first Israeli trip and hopefully, the first of many more to come. I would love for every member of our congregation to experience Israel at some point.

This photo of my family was taken in the market in Old Jerusalem this summer.

Let Freedom Reign Without and Within

Most of us are born into liberty so liberty becomes our breath – a life-force operating involuntarily and with only occasional and voluntary conscious thought. We read about the Islamic world where only this week there is an announced change to criminal law. In Iran, anyone who converts from Islam is subject under an addition to the criminal code to the death penalty. It is interesting to contrast that news with the latest Pugh poll also released this week on religious trends in America. According to the poll, nearly half of Americans practice a faith other than the one to which they were born with no legal repercussions. The government leaves the important decisions of faith and even morality to the individual. In our society we are free to choose our paths to wisdom. Let freedom reign and inspire.

The Direction of Love

The Talmud teaches, "A parent's love is for his or her children; the children's love is for their own children." (Babylonian Talmud, Sotah, 49a) Are we really comfortable with the notion that our children will pay our love forward? Doesn't this concept evoke every parent's fear of eventual irrelevance and relegation to the crumbling world of the past?

A beautiful story tells of a bird who crosses a windy sea with each of it's three children. One by one, the first two children beg of the father bird not to drop them to their deaths. "Only deliver me to safety and when you are old I shall do everything you ask of me!" they implore. The first two fledgling birds fall to their deaths. Only the third is carried across the sea to safety. Her words to her father are, "My dear father, it is true you are struggling mightily and risking your life in my behalf, and I shall be wrong not to repay you when you are old, but I cannot bind myself. This, though, I can promise: when I am grown up and have children of my own, I shall do as much for them as you have done for me." (taken from Glueckel of Hameln (1645-1724) Memoirs).

Glueckel of Hameln was the mother of twelve children. She completed her memoirs at the behest of her children.