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What is Your Family's Story? #751

11/04/2022 06:20:58 PM

Nov4

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat Lech Lecha: “Our forefathers have been forced out of many, many places at a moment’s notice -- “Maybe that’s why we always wear our hats.” Fiddler on the Roof.

What is Your Family's Story?

 

For American Jews, one of the most treasured features of life is the fact that few of our families have been in this country more than three or four generations.

What is your...Read more...

Kanye West: Where are the Voices? #750

10/28/2022 02:23:27 PM

Oct28

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat Noah: "Noah was “a righteous man, he was blameless in his generation.” Genesis 6:9

Kanye West: Where are the Voices?

 

A few months ago, while vacationing, my wife and I paused at an outdoor bar to enjoy the music of a local blues singer.

We were quietly sipping our beverages when we were joined by three women – nurses from Mississippi on temporary assignment – and we began...Read more...

Evil and Life's Cartoons #749

10/21/2022 06:33:52 PM

Oct21

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat Bereishit: “God saw that it was good.” 

Evil and Life's Cartoons

 

As I grew up, Saturday morning was one of the best times of the week.

During my pre-adolescent years, before my father began “encouraging” me to attend synagogue, I would park myself in front of the TV, locked into Rocky and Bullwinkle, Underdog, Dudley Do-Right and Tom...Read more...

Who Wrote The Torah? #748

10/14/2022 05:41:56 PM

Oct14

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

V'Zot HaBrachah: “Never again did there arise in Israel a prophet like Moses...” Deuteronomy 34:10

Who Wrote The Torah?

 

A controversial line found in the final three sentences of the Torah has challenged the Jewish people for hundreds of years.

It appears just after the death of Moses and reads:

“Never again did there arise in Israel a prophet like...Read more...

Moses Says Goodbye: Three Parting Messages #747

10/07/2022 05:37:46 PM

Oct7

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat Ha'Azinu: “May my discourse come down as the rain, my speech distill like the dew.” (Deuteronomy 32:2)

Moses Says Goodbye: Three Parting Messages

 

This week in synagogue, we will read the second to last parashah in...Read more...

Returning To Our Innocence #746

09/30/2022 06:20:32 PM

Sep30

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat Veyelech

Returning To Our Innocence

 

When I was about six years old, my father took me on a very important mission.

It was my cousin’s second birthday party, and it coincided with my father being awarded rights to sell go-karts in our little corner of suburban Montreal.

My father – who was and will always be a bit of a performer – dressed up in a clown suit. And with...Read more...

Judaism: Not That Complicated #745

09/23/2022 05:08:37 PM

Sep23

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat Nitzvavim:"God has put before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life, so that you and your offspring will truly live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19)

Judaism: Not That Complicated

 

My mentor, Rabbi Joseph Ehrenkranz of blessed memory, would say, “Judaism is the perfect religion ruined only by the people who practice it.”

How complicated we make religion.

Although...Read more...

Where Is Your Promised Land? #744

09/16/2022 05:15:56 PM

Sep16

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat Ki Tavo: “When you enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you as a heritage…” Deuteronomy 26:1

Where Is Your Promised Land?

 

The relationship between American Jews and Israel has not always been easy.

Some would call it tense.

During the early 1950s, a raw nerve became exposed when Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, delivered a series of...Read more...

Growing Up With The Queen #743

09/09/2022 05:39:39 PM

Sep9

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat Ki Teitzei

Growing Up With The Queen

 

I am my mother’s son.

For many years, as I was growing up in Montreal, Queen Elizabeth II, in many ways, was a cherished member of our family.

One of Mom’s prized possessions was a black and white photo of King George and Queen Elizabeth’s motorcade taken in 1939 by her high school’s caretaker.  

She attended...Read more...

Tzedakah: What Does it Really Mean? #742

09/02/2022 06:13:32 PM

Sep2

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat Shoftim "Justice justice shall you pursue." Deuteronomy 16:20

Tzedakah: What Does it Really Mean?

 

There is a story about Jack Ain, one of our past presidents, who years ago - at the end of weekday services - would collect money from those present.

After services, a stream of financially challenged local residents – some homeless – would often appear at the synagogue...Read more...

Sat, November 23 2024 22 Cheshvan 5785