Elul Thoughts - 1 Tishrei / October 3
10/04/2024 12:12:42 PM
Rosh Hashanah!
As a Rosh Hashanah gift from us to you, here is one last thought to start your year:
Rabbi Eleanor SteinmanAs we prepare ourselves for the dawn of a new year, many of us reflect upon the two broad categories of sin; sins between people and sins between a person and the Holy One (Mishna Yoma 8:9). This mishna teaches us that the liturgical atonement of Yom Kippur...Read more...
Elul Thoughts - 29 Elul / October 2
10/04/2024 12:10:41 PM
Rabbi Michael Churgel
I recently started watching Time Bandits on Apple+, a reimagining of the zany 1981 film. In the opening episode we are introduced to Kevin, a intelligent and thoughtful 12-year-old boy, and his neglectful parents, who spend most of their time sitting on the couch using their smartphones while the tv plays in the background. This is an all too familiar scene in households across...Read more...
Elul Thoughts - 28 Elul / October 1
10/01/2024 03:01:17 PM
Rabbi Eric Linder
After settling in the land of Canaan, Abraham and his nephew Lot found great success. In fact, they amassed so much wealth that even their animals began to compete over land and resources
The Torah tells us that Abraham approached his nephew. Please let there be no strife between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brethren (Genesis...Read more...
Elul Thoughts - 27 Elul / September 30
09/30/2024 06:52:02 PM
Cantor Laurie Weinstein
The Japanese have an artistic style called kintsugi in which a broken piece of pottery is repaired by mending the areas of breakage with a lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered precious metal…like gold. Why do this? One answer: to embrace the flawed or the imperfect. Healing human brokenness is not as easy as gold dusted glue. However, if I greet the broken hearted with...Read more...
Elul Thoughts - 26 Elul / September 29
09/29/2024 10:32:48 AM
Cantor Joanna Alexander
Dear God,
Why can they not see how wrong they are? Can you not simply bring a miracle to show them your will, to change their ways and help them find the true path?
Dear God, I know I am not perfect, but do they not see the harm they cause to others, the damage to your one and only earth, the pain their stubbornness bears out?
Read more...
Elul Thoughts - 24 & 25 Elul / September 27 & 28
09/27/2024 07:07:11 PM
On Fridays, we email two Elul Thoughts, out of respect for those of us who choose not to look at email on Shabbat. We wish you a blessed and restful Shabbat and hope you continue finding inspiration in our Elul Thoughts.
September 27-28, 2024/24-25 Elul 5784Cantor David Berger
If you've ever been in a beit midrash (a traditional Jewish study hall), you know it's anything but quiet. Unlike a typical Western...Read more...
Elul Thoughts - 23 Elul / September 26
09/27/2024 10:13:12 AM
Rabbi Brad Levenberg
The slow trickle of time has the potential to turn streams into lakes. Consider the story of Mr. Brown, a widower in metro Atlanta, Georgia. He had a dream of a large pond in a recessed part of his property. Tragically, he died before his dream could be realized. The company he hired to design the project was negligent, leaving a hose running as they stepped away from the...Read more...
Elul Thoughts - 22 Elul / September 25
09/25/2024 12:53:15 PM
Rabbi Stephen Wise
I spent two weeks in Israel this summer. This was my second visit since October 7. The first was to bear witness to the massacre. At that time I noticed a bond of solidarity among Israelis over fighting back against Hamas and rescuing hostages. Grassroots charities sprung up across the country to help take care of others and put aside past grievances. Over the past 8 months...Read more...
Elul Thoughts - 21 Elul / September 24
09/24/2024 03:42:58 PM
Rabbi Rony S. Keller
Elul asks us to physically engage in the daily act of listening to the sound of the shofar.
“The shofar call begins with a tekiah, a long, unbroken blast; progresses to sh’varim, three wailing blasts; and finally reaches the staccato t’ru’ah. But the shofar always returns to the tekiah. That is the growth of a spirit: first holiness; then...Read more...
Elul Thoughts - 20 Elul / September 23
09/23/2024 10:54:24 AM
Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker
In a debate, there’s a winner and a loser. As a result, debate is a terrible way to resolve problems or bring people together. If our goal for family, our People, or our community is to “seek peace and pursue it” (Psalms 34:15), logical (or illogical) arguments won’t lead to reconciliation or healing. Instead, we have to suffer.
Sevel in...Read more...
Elul Thoughts - 19 Elul / September 22
09/23/2024 10:53:39 AM
Rabbi Erin Boxt
As the High Holy Day Period is coming upon us fast, we tend to turn our focus (internally and externally) to seeking and giving forgiveness. It is in our attempts to heal these rifts among people that we spend so much time dwelling on in the month of Elul.
Perhaps you are familiar with the musical, Hamilton. When Alexander Hamilton admits to an affair, his wife,...Read more...
Elul Thoughts - 17 & 18 Elul / September 20 & 21
09/20/2024 01:25:54 PM
On Fridays, we email two Elul Thoughts, out of respect for those of us who choose not to look at email on Shabbat. We wish you a blessed and restful Shabbat and hope you continue finding inspiration in our Elul Thoughts.
September 20-21, 2024/17-18 Elul 5784Rabbi Batsheva Appel
Is such the fast I desire,
A day for people to starve their bodies?...
Read more...
Elul Thoughts - 16 Elul / September 19
09/19/2024 04:19:36 PM
Rabbi Neal Katz
During Elul, I like to meditate on a beautiful teaching from the Torah that reminds me of my smallness.
In Genesis, as our ancestor Jacob prepared to meet his estranged brother, Esau – for what he presumed would be a battle, Jacob prayed to God:
“קָטֹנְתִּי מִכֹּל הַחֲסָדִים...Read more...
Elul Thoughts - 15 Elul / September 18
09/18/2024 12:33:21 PM
Rabbi Alan Litwak
“Fraternal Rifts”
The entire biblical book of Genesis is a study in fraternal strife. One set of brothers after another is in conflict. Yet, even as the trauma seems to doom the next generation to more pain, there is also a moral arc that swings towards healing.
The die is cast when Cain kills his brother. Separated by their parents, Isaac and...Read more...
Elul Thoughts - 14 Elul / September 17
09/17/2024 03:46:32 PM
Rabbi Simone Schicker
Every morning we recite a blessing for Torah Study. Which then requires us to fulfill the recitation of a blessing with its associated action. Many of us choose to read the words of Eilu D’varim (Mishnah Peah 1:1). While each piece of the passage is powerful, my eyes are often drawn towards the end when we recite vahava’at shalom bein adam lachaveiro - and making peace...Read more...
Elul Thoughts - 13 Elul / September 16
09/17/2024 03:45:30 PM
Rabbi Deana Sussman Berezin
Seeing the World in Jewish Time
So often in our lives, we mark time through significant moments– the beginning of a new school year, the countdown to January 1st, the number of days until summer vacation, and the like. These moments serve to connect us with the world around us. And yet, as Jews, we straddle both secular and sacred time. Jewish time tells...Read more...
Elul Thoughts - 12 Elul / September 15
09/17/2024 03:44:15 PM
Rabbi Benjamin Sharff
In today’s world, where certainty and binaries reign, it is so hard to find any space for commonality or even perceiving humanity in someone else who holds a different view. If I am right, then you are wrong. And more than that, if I am right, then your worldview is fundamentally flawed and there is no hope for you.
And this is the challenge of binaries....Read more...
Elul Thoughts - 10 & 11 Elul / September 13 & 14
09/17/2024 03:41:49 PM
September 13-14, 2024/10-11 Elul 5784
Rabbi David N. Young
This year I turn 50. Even typing those words makes a strange feeling wash over me. I think I have a little...Read more...
Elul Thoughts - 9 Elul / September 12
09/12/2024 02:33:09 PM
Rabbi Alan Cook
In the traditional weekday Amidah, the seventh blessing carries the overall theme of redemption. But its text has a more explicit ask of God than salvation. R’eh na b’oneinu v’riva riveinu, it states: “Look upon our suffering and resolve all of our quarrels.”
We know that this is merely the metaphorical language of prayer. Neither God, or anyone...Read more...
Elul Thoughts - 8 Elul / September 11
09/11/2024 01:11:35 PM
Rabbi Laurence Malinger
Healing rifts among people is considered a fundamental aspect of preparing spiritually for the new year, especially during the month of Elul. This period is a time for introspection, repentance, and seeking reconciliation with those whom we have wronged or hurt. According to the Talmud, in Baba Metzia 58b, there is a clear directive on how individuals should approach...Read more...
Elul Thoughts - 7 Elul / September 10
09/10/2024 06:31:50 PM
Rabbi Don Weber
Before clocks were invented, rabbis had to decide when “daytime” begins and “nighttime” ends. Some said it’s when you can see the difference between a green thread and a blue one. But my favorite answer is this, from an anonymous rabbi: “It is daylight when you can look into the face of another human being and recognize that he or she is your brother or sister. Until...Read more...
Elul Thoughts - 6 Elul / September 9
09/09/2024 04:25:03 PM
Rabbi Kelly Levy
There is a person in my life who struggles with addiction and other mental health issues. It’s very difficult to be in communication and contact with this person. I made a choice years ago to no longer speak with them, allowing space and time to grow between us. I have often said, “Toxic is toxic, even if you’re related.”
Recently, this person chose to...Read more...
Elul Thoughts - 5 Elul / September 8
09/06/2024 03:14:47 PM
Rabbi Daniel Kirzane
Repentance and forgiveness form a two-way street, and during Elul, we’re encouraged to walk in both directions.
Repentance entails knowing we’ve done wrong, changing ourselves to avoid doing wrong again, trying to “make up” for what we’ve done, and reaching out to those we’ve harmed to apologize or make peace. Forgiveness entails identifying...Read more...
Elul Thoughts - 3 & 4 Elul / September 6 & 7
09/06/2024 12:48:58 PM
On Fridays, we email two Elul Thoughts, out of respect for those of us who choose not to look at email on Shabbat. We wish you a blessed and restful Shabbat and hope you continue finding inspiration in our Elul Thoughts.
September 6-7, 2024/3-4 Elul 5784Rabbi Judith Siegal
Want to know a terrible and badly kept secret? Almost every family has rifts and estrangements. It is not often discussed, but we notice...Read more...
Elul Thoughts - 1 & 2 Elul / September 4 & 5
09/05/2024 04:35:22 PM
Rabbi Harry Rosenfeld
This has been a hard year since October 7. The pain of knowing the hostages were taken and brutalized. The massacre of innocent Israelis. The pain and destruction in Gaza as Israel tries to eliminate as much of Hamas as possible.
But more, we now have to live with the divisions these events have created in our own country, on top of the ones we already have....Read more...
Preparing for the High Holy Days
08/29/2024 06:54:11 PM
The High Holy Days are late this year.
I know, I know…they always start on the first of Tishrei, so they are always right on time. We measure our lives by time and by what is happening when. But time is a construct—a measurement of distance and how we move through space. You have probably heard that the term “light year” is a measurement of how far light travels in a year. I was always told it is bad form to use...Read more...
Gratitude for the beach
08/21/2024 06:41:50 PM
Shalom Chaverim,
Last week I was fortunate to travel north to say hello to family, reconnect with my summer home (and memories) on Lake Huron, and be sure to get my body in the water for a swim.
On Sunday evening, as we walked through the airport in Detroit, the heavens had opened, and the rain was pouring down. Thankfully, in the time it took us...Read more...
Tzedakah Tatzel Mimavet
08/15/2024 10:56:06 AM
Tzedakah tatzel mimavet. Tzedakah delivers [a person] from death.
This phrase comes up quite a few times in our sacred texts. Twice in the book of Proverbs the phrase serves as a foil to a line about the futility of gathering wealth (10:2 and 11:4). The Talmud uses it as a seal to a list of ten things that are hard, with death being the tenth hard thing, but the assurance that tzedakah delivers from death (Baba Batra 10a). My favorite...Read more...
Religious School is Cool!
08/07/2024 04:43:31 PM
Shalom Chaverim,
While summer is cool, you know what is cooler? Religious School! (Click here if you have been meaning to register).
Today, Thursday, August 8th, marks exactly one month until our first day for our new school year: Sunday, September 8th. Carly Cera, our Director of...Read more...
Pride @ CBI
08/01/2024 10:50:23 AM
When I first came to CBI six years ago, I was thrilled to join such an inclusive and welcoming community. It was clear from the beginning of my tenure that our community strives to create space for every person who walks through our doors, no matter what. I was equally thrilled to discover that, true to Austin form, Pride was held during the month of August rather than June....Read more...