Posted on December 17, 2024
Dear Congregants, As you have just read, our esteemed Rabba Kaya, who has guided us with wisdom and compassion, will be stepping down due to personal health reasons. We hold her in our hearts and are deeply grateful for her years of service and leadership.
Posted on December 17, 2024
Dear Temple Israel Community, I am writing with some personal news to share. After much inner wrestling it has become clear to me that I need to trim back my professional responsibilities and pay more attention to my health. Therefore, as of June 30th I will be stepping down, earlier than I expected, as the full-time Rabbi of Temple Israel. This has been a very difficult decision but one I could no longer avoid.
Parashat Va’era
Posted on January 19, 2021
Dedicated to my cousin Haim Shtrum z”l As this past week’s disturbing events unfolded, shaking us to the core as a nation, we have much to think about, much to process. As Jews, we can look to Torah for some wisdom about this moment. This week we read from the book of Exodus, the beginning Continue Reading »
Parashat Vayigash
Posted on December 25, 2020
Jacob’s long journey is culminating as the truth is finally revealed to him. His son Joseph is alive after all. Jacob is stunned. He has been in mourning for twenty years. Now, suddenly, the world as he knew it is turned upside down. Torah tells us that upon hearing the news of Joseph’s existence, Jacob’s Continue Reading »
Hanukkah
Posted on December 13, 2020
Hanukkah, as we know, takes place at the darkest time of the year, not only because the days are the shortest of the year, with the least amount of sunlight available, but also because it falls in the last week of the lunar month. This is the time of the month with the least amount Continue Reading »
Kislev
Posted on December 6, 2020
The Moon of Kislev is just past full. Have you seen it? A bright light amid the dark night. The days are still growing shorter but there is light amid the darkness. It is in fact the darkness that allows us to see the light more clearly. According to our traditions, this is the time of Continue Reading »
Parashat Vayishlah
Posted on December 4, 2020
This week’s parashah, Va’yishlah focuses on the homeward journey of Jacob and his family. This entire portion seems to swing widely between the poles of blessing and calamity. While the overt context of parashah focuses on Jacob’s inner and outward journeys, the feminine voices within the family are struck down through tragedy and death. Much as Jacob/Israel can be Continue Reading »
Posted on November 24, 2020
Dear Friends, With both Thanksgiving and Hanukkah on the horizon, we are all surely struggling with anxiety and sadness over the safety of gathering together with family and friends. These are very difficult times and the specter of additional social isolation compounds our grief. In a recent Ministerium meeting of Seacoast-area clergy, we discussed the Continue Reading »
Posted on November 24, 2020
TIP was a proud sponsor and participant in this National Interfaith event for Healing and Reconciliation that took place on Sat. evening, Nov. 21st. Rabba Kaya Stern-Kaufman was honored as one of the faith leaders selected to share a teaching as part of the Havdalah ceremony. The event was attended by over 1200 participants. You Continue Reading »
Parashat Hayei Sarah
Posted on November 17, 2020
After the trauma of the Akeida (the binding of Isaac onto the altar by his father Abraham) and after the death of Sarah, the Torah seeks out healing. The Torah seeks out the only possible path forward for healing: loving-kindness-hesed. It is the path of loving-kindness that will enable the survivors of trauma and loss to survive and Continue Reading »
