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If I forget You, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither.
07/10/2025 02:26:11 PM
Rabbi Micah Peltz
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Shalom from Jerusalem!
I had an experience this week that made me think about the well-known words that we will read on our Torah portion this week: “Mah Tovu Ohalekha Yaakov - How good are your tents O Jacob, your dwellings Israel.” These words have become the opening words of our morning service in our Siddur. We say them every morning The ironic thing is that the evil prophet Bilaam, who was hired to curse the Israelites,...Read more...
Shalom from Israel!
07/03/2025 03:08:21 PM
Rabbi Micah Peltz
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Though my Hartman Rabbinic Learning program was cancelled, Rachel and I decided to use our tickets to give what hizuk (strength) and support we could to friends and family during this difficult time. I say “during” because, though there is a deep sense of relief after the Israeli and US strikes on the Iranian nuclear program, the war in Gaza continues, and 50 hostages remain in captivity. Hopefully, there will be a ceasefire...Read more...
Israel, Iran…and Haiti (and oh yeah, the Parashah)
06/26/2025 08:50:20 AM
Rabbi Steven Lindemann
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Several students from Have Faith Haiti will be with us this Shabbat. The visit was planned before the U.S. strike on Iran’s nuclear installations, but that may add additional meaning to the visit. More about that in a moment, but first, a few words about the Parashah.
וַיִּקַּ֣ח קֹ֔רַח –“And Korah took.” The opening words of this week's Parashah may be the key to understanding the essence of...Read more...
Let us by all means go up…for we shall surely overcome it.
06/19/2025 12:07:42 PM
Rabbi Micah Peltz
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Our parashah this week has an ironic resonance with our world. It begins, “Shelah Lekha” – God tells Moshe to send people to scout out the land of Israel. Though we haven’t left our homes, many of us have been scouts this past week, watching with pride and trepidation the war between Israel and Iran unfold. As we shared yesterday, we have resources to help you follow what is happening, advocate for Israel, and give...Read more...
What can we do from so far away?
06/18/2025 02:45:27 PM
Rabbi Micah Peltz
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“Help us, God, to lie down in peace, and awaken us again, our Sovereign, to life.”
Each night, as we say these words as part of the Hashkiveinu prayer, we entrust ourselves to God’s protection—against enemies, sorrow, and shadowy forces that threaten our peace. Since the beginning of “Operation Rising Lion” last Thursday, these words have become even more powerful. We remain concerned for our sisters and...Read more...
The Embodiment of Am Yisrael Hai
06/13/2025 09:56:55 AM
Rabbi Micah Peltz
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Dear TBS Family,
Our hearts, thoughts, and prayers are with our loved ones in Israel. We have spent much of the night and this morning texting with family and friends, including members of our congregation, who spent the last many hours in safe rooms and bomb shelters. While there is clearly concern, there is also a deep sense of determination.
Most of the external challenges that Israel faces have their source in Iran....Read more...
The Power of Words
06/12/2025 10:24:50 AM
Rabbi Bryan Wexler
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Among the many lessons in this week’s Torah portion, Beha’alotekha, is the lesson about the power of words. Aaron and Miriam gossip about Moses’ wife and this misdeed leads not only to family turmoil, but also, punishment from God. Words matter. Today we find ourselves in a world where all too often people throw around words indiscriminately; in ways that lead to misunderstanding, hatred, and sometimes even violence....Read more...
He Who Has a Why Can Bear With Any How
06/05/2025 03:30:00 PM
Rabbi Micah Peltz
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On Sunday evening, just before I headed into the celebration for our Confirmation Class, I saw the breaking news—a peaceful march for the hostages in Boulder, CO. People injured, burned. An attacker who yelled “Free Palestine.” Another violent antisemitic attack. This was about all I knew as I shut off my computer for Shavuot and went to join our Confirmation class.
By now, we all know the terrible...Read more...
Our Joy is Heightened When We Join Together
05/29/2025 01:22:51 PM
Rabbi Bryan Wexler
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Shavuot is considered one of the most joyous days of the Jewish calendar as we celebrate matan Torah, the gift of the Torah. However, the seven-week period of the Omer, which concludes this Sunday evening with the beginning of Shavuot, is considered a more somber time. The solemn tone of these days is perhaps connected to the anticipation and trepidation our ancestors felt as they prepared and waited for the revelation at Sinai....Read more...
We Stand Together Against This Hatred and Violence, and Remain Vigilant in Our Own Community
05/22/2025 03:51:11 PM
Rabbi Micah Peltz
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We awoke this morning to the devastating news of the murders of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim at the Capital Jewish Museum. Yaron and Sarah were to be engaged next week in Jerusalem. Our hearts go out to...Read more...
Evening of Tribute - Rabbi Micah Peltz
05/21/2025 03:44:59 PM
Rabbi Micah Peltz
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I am overwhelmed with gratitude for this incredible evening, and even more so for this incredible kehillah kedoshah, this amazing sacred community, of Temple Beth Sholom. Thank you for this honor. Thank you for all the thoughtful and meaningful gifts. Thank you to all of you for being here, and to everyone who worked so hard to make tonight so wonderful…
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Our Gratitude Trails
05/15/2025 02:01:58 PM
Rabbi Bryan Wexler
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Gratitude is a foundational value of our tradition. Prayers of gratitude fill our liturgy and encompass our day. In his book Thanks a Thousand, A.J. Jacobs coined the term “gratitude trail.” In doing so, he suggests that for each blessing in our life, we should trace the manifestation of that blessing from its origin to its reception and express gratitude for each step along the way. His example is his morning coffee, reflecting on...Read more...
The World Is Built Not on Love, But on Loving Actions
05/08/2025 01:45:49 PM
Rabbi Micah Peltz
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In a world where hatred is all too prevalent, we are met this week with a mitzvah to love. Not just a mitzvah, but according to the great ancient sage Rabbi Akiva, the most fundamental mitzvah of the Torah. V’ahavta l’reyakha kamokha – “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Sounds great, but what does it actually mean?
First, we must look at the context in which it appears. It comes at the end of...Read more...
Life Can Change in a Moment
05/01/2025 08:19:21 AM
Rabbi Bryan Wexler
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The Promise of Never Again is Being Tested.
04/24/2025 09:09:15 AM
Rabbi Micah Peltz
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Rabbi Lionel Blue once remarked that Jews are just like everyone else, only more so. This year I feel the same way about Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, that we mark today. Yom HaShoah is important every year, but this year, even more so. It is even more so because our pledge to remember, and our promise of Never Again, is being tested.
It is being tested by the fact that 59 hostages remain in...Read more...
The Time is Moving
04/17/2025 01:18:31 PM
Rabbi Bryan Wexler
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Moadim L’Simha! Happy Passover! The other night, my daughter looked at my watch and said: “the time is moving.” How right she is; time always keeps moving. There is a past, a present, and a future. Time is linear; moving from the present moment to the next.
However, many ancient cultures did not understand time as moving in a single direction. Instead, time was cyclical to them; that is to say, it...Read more...
On Eagles’ Wings…and Helicopters
04/10/2025 10:17:41 AM
Rabbi Steven Lindemann
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As B’nai Yisrael arrive at Mt. Sinai, God summarizes the three months from the Exodus to that moment with a remarkable phrase:
“You have seen…how I bore you on Eagles’ wings and brought you to me.” (Exodus 19:4)
Perhaps it seemed that way to God, but I’m not sure the Israelites experienced it quite the same way. For them, it was the whole period of the plagues, anxiety as Pharaoh’s army...Read more...
Can We Quiet Ourselves to Hear the Call and Then Summon the Strength to Act Upon It?
04/03/2025 12:21:37 PM
Rabbi Bryan Wexler
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This week, we begin reading the book of Vayikra, Leviticus. The very first words of Vayikra are “The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting.” There is a scribal tradition that the final letter (an alef) in the first word of the Torah reading (Vayikra, which means “And God called”) is written in smaller letters in the Torah scroll than the rest of the word. Why is this?
One explanation from...Read more...
Together, We Will Strengthen Israel, Our Values, and Our People
03/27/2025 10:58:58 AM
Rabbi Micah Peltz
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In a world with so much uncertainty, it is important to have things that root us. Family, friends, community, traditions – all of these things can help serve that purpose. Something else that helps us to root us is our calendar, which in Judaism sets the rhythm of the year and reminds us of our story and values. This Shabbat is Shabbat HaHodesh. We will take a second Torah from the ark and read Exodus 12, which...Read more...
The Power of Kehillah, Community
03/20/2025 01:16:48 PM
Rabbi Bryan Wexler
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This Shabbat we read Parashat Vayakhel, which gives detailed instructions for the building of the mishkan (tabernacle). But before turning to those instructions this Shabbat, let’s first consider the parasha’ first word: Vayakhel. The root of the word Vayakhel is kahal, which means community. Vayakhel begins with Moses gathering the whole community together. Numerous commentators point to the importance of Moses...Read more...
Standing up to power like Vashti and Esther
03/13/2025 09:37:36 AM
Rabbi Micah Peltz
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Tonight begins our celebration of Purim. I hope that you will join us at 7pm for our first installment of Purim Madness, which will include Megillah reading, song parodies, costume contests with fabulous prizes, and food and fun. And then on Sunday morning, we will continue our celebration with our Family Megillah reading followed by our Purim Extravaganza! See below for details. On Purim we celebrate Mordehai and...Read more...
Bringing Light in an All-Too-Dark World
03/06/2025 12:21:12 PM
Rabbi Bryan Wexler
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This week’s Torah portion, Tetzaveh focuses on the role of the Kohanim (priests) and the detailed, sacred clothing that they wore. Judging a person by the clothing that they wear is superficial, and leadership is certainly not about garb or glitz. However, as our parashah teaches us, there is much to be learned from a uniform, most of all, what it represents.
The High Priest wore the Hoshen HaMishpat, the breastplate of...Read more...
Together, may we create more joy in the world
02/27/2025 12:17:26 PM
Rabbi Micah Peltz
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Tonight begins the Hebrew month of Adar, about which the Talmud says Mi Shenikhas Adar Marbin B’Simha, when the month of Adar begins, our joy increases. Our tradition attributes this to the Purim holiday, which we will celebrate in a couple of weeks. We know joy and happiness are not emotions we can automatically feel simply because we turn a page on a calendar. Especially in a time when our hearts are heavy from another...Read more...
May our tears water our broken hearts
02/20/2025 12:54:48 PM
Rabbi Bryan Wexler
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This moment feels different.
For months and months, we have hung our prayers on the fate of little Kfir and Ariel Bibas, longing for their safe return, refusing to give up hope. This morning, we saw coffins brought back into Israel...Read more...
Returning to what roots us, working towards growth, and sharing our fruit, unique talents, and perspectives with others
02/13/2025 11:00:32 AM
Rabbi Micah Peltz
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Today is Tu B'shevat, the new year for the trees. We celebrate it by eating fruits, especially the seven species of Israel, as well as taking time to reflect on and recommit ourselves to environmental concerns. Some also mark this holiday with a Tu...Read more...
Moments and Memories That We Will and Must Carry With Us
02/06/2025 02:01:58 PM
Rabbi Bryan Wexler
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Super Bowl 59 is THREE days away, and in case you are wondering…. THE EAGLES ARE PLAYING!
Who is excited for Sunday? I certainly am! As I mentioned in shul this past Shabbat since the Eagles won the NFC Championship game nearly two weeks ago, I have been looking for signs in the book of...Read more...
Dreaming About the Future and the Steps to Get Us There
02/06/2025 10:55:28 AM
Rabbi Micah Peltz
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I just returned from a week in Israel, where I got a deeper appreciation for the emotional roller coaster that the whole society is on. One moment, there is the joy of seeing hostages released, and then the sense of sorrow and pain from the release of murders, the loss of soldiers, and the general heaviness of the toll all of this has taken on Israelis. I felt this most acutely last Shabbat, where the shul I was at interrupted services to...Read more...
A Note from Jerusalem: Standing Up for What is Right in a Time Where Things Often Seem Wrong
01/30/2025 11:58:55 AM
Rabbi Micah Peltz
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The sun is setting in Jerusalem. I am grateful for the continued support from TBS that allows me to be here as part of the Rabbinic Leadership Initiative of the Hartman Institute. Our days are mostly spent on the campus in Jerusalem, in conversation with Hartman scholars and the other rabbis in my cohort. It is wonderful to be here, even in these complex days. Today, once again, joy mixed with outrage as eight more...Read more...
Finding a Sense of Hope
01/23/2025 03:51:48 PM
Rabbi Bryan Wexler
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At the beginning of this week’s Torah portion,Vaera, Moses announces to the Israelites that God has appeared to him and that they will be redeemed by the mighty hand of God and be brought to the land promised to their ancestors. Yet, after Moses’ impassioned speech, the Torah says “v’lo shamu el Moshe mikotzer ruah u’mei avodah kasha-- “They could not hear/listen to Moses on account of kotzer ruah and difficult...Read more...
A Vision for a More Peaceful Middle East.
01/16/2025 10:30:18 AM
Rabbi Micah Peltz
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As I write, the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas appears that it will soon become official. If it does, and all goes well, then the first three of the 33 hostages to be released in the first stage could be returning home by Sunday. While we are immensely grateful for these children, women, elderly, and ill human beings to be returning home after 467 days in captivity, we also must recognize that this ordeal is far from...Read more...

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