Rabbi Annette Koch‘s drash (teaching) on this week’s Torah portion, Shoftim, brings ancient truths to modern conditions. Rabbi Koch is the spiritual leader of Temple Israel in Alameda. When my father spoke about the horrors of being a prisoner in a Russian forced labor camp on the Finnish-Russian border during World War II, he…
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When I was a kid I would ask my dad how to spell a word. He replied, “Look it up in the dictionary.” Exasperated I said, “If I knew how to spell it I COULD look it up!” Being clueless may be your starting point. But what you DO know is that you want to…
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I have struggled with how to write to all of you. Many of us are in multiracial families; those who are not, still have black and brown friends. As a white person I am horrified and yet aware that it is a luxury to be horrified when this is routine for black people. So how…
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Bay Area Jews in Solidarity with Black Lives Statement from the Jewish Community Relations Council: Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin, Sonoma, Alameda and Contra Costa Counties and the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund (the Federation) strongly condemn the murder of George Floyd, the most recent in a string…
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Rabbi Ryan Bauer of Congregation Emanu-el in San Francisco sent out this loving message to his congregation. He included a link to a meditation that many of us could use. Take a moment to read his message and if you have 15 minutes, do the meditation with him. Dear Friends, My main childhood memory…
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(Image: A hamentashen bake with friends) We just observed Tu B’shvat and are now coming up on Purim. Both of these are minor holidays in the Jewish calendar. It can be tempting to say, we don’t need to do anything for them; they aren’t really that important. But pause and consider, why might they be…
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