July 2011
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July Newsletter 2011
July 1, 2011 Dear Temple Bat Yam, I am very excited about leaving for Israel this coming weekend. I am so blessed that my congregation understands my need for professional study and growth. A good leader is reflective, curious, and willing to continually be challenged.  My time in Israel helps me grow, think, and  learn! I am off again to the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem to study for...
Jul 1st
June 2011
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Rabbi Warshaw’s Comments for the Congregational...
          It seems like I always start out my rabbi report with the words—“we have been so busy this past year at Temple Bat Yam.” And yet—every year that seems more and more true. When I talk to rabbis from much larger congregations around the country they are truly surprised at what our little temple by the ocean does. We are a  rockin’ place!           There is so much for us to celebrate...
Jun 25th
June 2011 Newsletter: Shavuot
TIKKUN LEIL SHAVUOT             There are many kinds of Jews in the world: there are Diaspora Jews and Israeli Jews; Reform, Reconstructionist, Conservative, Orthodox and secular Jews. Jews who believe in God and Jews who do not. There are Jews from the East and Jews from the West; there are Jews who pray alone, who pray in a minyan and those who do not pray at all. There are Jews from Jewish...
Jun 2nd
February 2011
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From Jerusalem, February 2011
Jerusalem, February 2, 2011 I am sitting in the airport in Tel Aviv waiting to board an airplane for home after spending a week in Jerusalem studying at the Hartman Institute. Many flights to the US have been canceled because of bad weather in the mid-west, but it looks like mine is a go. It has been an incredible week of learning with colleagues and from master teachers, of staying tuned to CNN...
Feb 3rd
January 2011
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Temple Bat Yam January Newsletter 2011
SYNAGOGUE ETIQUETTE               When you come to services, there is a lot to remember, whether it is Shabbat or the High Holy Days. Every service has its own pace and rhythm, although they share many prayers in common.             Perhaps one of the most basic rules in the sanctuary is to stand when the ark is open or the Torah is in someone’s arms. It is a sign of honor and respect not to sit...
Jan 6th
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August 2010
2 posts
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SUMMER STUDY IN JERUSALEM
As many if you already know, I spent three weeks this past summer in Jerusalem. This was my first summer as a member of the Rabbinic Leadership Initiative (RLI) of the Shalom Hartman Institute. This is an intensive three-year training program for a group of “hand-picked” rabbis from all denominations: Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Recostructionist.             Our schedule was very full indeed....
Aug 20th
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Gemilut Chasidim
ESSAY POINTS OUT THE IMPORTANCE OF JEWISH ETHICS   Our congregant Bonnie Eisenman wrote this essay for the 19th Annual Kaplan Essay contest. Bonnie was one of the finalists in the competition. Her essay is so special that I would like to share it with you this month.—-Rabbi Warshaw Our jeans were splattered with mud; we had bramble scratches running up our arms. My arms and legs ached from...
Aug 1st
July 2010
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Jul 26th
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Three Shabbats in Israel
One of the most interesting things about being in Israel is the choice one has of where to go for services on Friday night. I have been here for three Shabbats, and have had three totally different Shabbat experiences. On Friday night services are held early, so that one can go home or to friends for Shabbat dinner afterward (this is a format we will be experimenting with a couple times at Temple...
Jul 26th
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Study at Hartman and The Conversion Bill
Shavua Tov (a good week) to everyone from Jerusalem. Whenever I come to Israel I am touched and deeply moved by the story of our people. I cannot help but be inspired and awed by the spirit of the Jewish people and the stories of the sacrifices they made so that Jews can be free in their homeland.  And although I love Israel I also am aware that Israel has many flaws. As one of my colleagues...
Jul 26th
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Torah Arrested at the Wall
The Central Conference of American Rabbis (the body of Reform rabbis in America) released this statement regarding the arrest of Anat Hoffman at the Kotel (Wall) yesterday: CCAR STATEMENT ON THE ARREST OF ANAT HOFFMAN July 12, 2010             The Central Conference of American Rabbis, the world’s oldest and largest rabbinic association, looks with shock and revulsion at today’s arrest of Anat...
Jul 14th
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Jul 13th
May 2010
2 posts
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Reform and Conservative Judaism
Temple Bat Yam Newsletter June 2010 Rabbi Susan Warshaw REFORM AND CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM               Several congregants have recently asked me about Reform and Conservative Judaism. They have wanted to know about the difference between these two movements, and to learn if there is still a social and ideological gap between them. In recent years it has seemed that the differences between Reform...
May 13th
What Do You Have To Give?
What Do You Have to Give? Temple Bat Yam May 2010 Newsletter             A colleague, Rabbi Dan Moskovitz, recently shared with me this remarkable story. Kevin Salwen, a writer and entrepreneur in Atlanta, was driving his 14-year-old daughter, Hannah, back from a sleep-over in 2006. While waiting at a traffic light, they saw a black Mercedes coupe on one side of the car and a homeless man begging...
May 13th
March 2010
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Keeping Kosher
Temple Bat Yam Newsletter April 2010 Rabbi Susan Warshaw KEEPING KOSHER             Dietary laws loom large in traditional Jewish life. What we put into our mouths and how we do it has been important to Jews for thousands of years. The body of Jewish law which deals with what foods we eat and cannot eat and how these foods are prepared is called kashrut. The word kashrut comes from the Hebrew...
Mar 16th
January 2010
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February 2010 Temple Bat Yam Newsletter
THE BIG READ: Cynthia Ozick’s The Shawl We are so fortunate in our area to have a vibrant and creative public library system. The Worcester County Library is sponsoring a very important program this spring called THE BIG READ. THE BIG READ is a national program co-sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and Arts Midwest. The book that has...
Jan 13th
December 2009
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Temple Bat Yam Supports our Troops
Newsletter Article January 2010             Temple Bat Yam believes in honoring and supporting our troops in Iran and Afghanistan. As a part of our outreach program, we participate in two projects for our soldiers. Operation Paperback is a non-profit grass roots program founded in 1999 as one way of showing appreciation for the sacrifices our military men and women make every day—often far from...
Dec 22nd
October 2009
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Rabbi Susan Warshaw
I’M A PARENT—WHAT DOES THE RELIGIOUS SCHOOL WANT FROM ME? This month I would like to put on my hat as Religious School director. First I’d like to share with you a story (which comes from my colleague Rabbi Bruce Raff of Temple Judea in Tarzana California). This story illustrates the important of both parent’s and children’s attitude toward Religious School. It was the best of Religious...
Oct 19th
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My October Commentary
To read my other commentaries, please see Temple Bat Yam’s newsletter page. In the past few weeks several people have asked me about Shiva minyans and about the Jewish custom of “sitting Shiva.” The word shiva means seven, and is the week long period of mourning after the death of a parent, sibling, child, or spouse. In Reform Judaism, a three-day period of mourning is observed, and a Shiva...
Oct 2nd