Rabbi Rachel Barenblat: Place of Promise
Please follow the link below to read Rabbi Barenblat’s beautiful poem — a somewhat different perspective on the parashah
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, z/l: Acharei Mot Holy People, HolyLand
Rabbi Sacks explores the theme of why Jews need their own land. On the one hand, the Torah is based on the theme of the promised land, and the journey there. On the other hand, cannot Judaism be practiced anywhere? The text of the parashah stipulates exile from the land for defiling the laws. Parashat Bechukotai also makes the same stipulation. He raises the issue that “Jews never relinquished the dream of return.”
Solidarity Concert May 12
Solidarity Concert May 12 at 4:00 pm — honoring Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut — at Congregation B’nai Israel in Tustin. Performers will include Cantors Heather Hoopes Seid, Elisa Waltzman, and Andrew Pascal, as well as other musicians and performers.
Amusing Jews
Check out the new YouTube channel “Amusing Jews”, celebrating Jews who have made offbeat contributions to American popular culture. Cantor Dr. Jonathan Friedmann and Rabbi Joseph Angel-Field have featured such notables as Fred Agree, the first Jew to complete the Iditarod in Alaska, and Gary Lassin, proprietor of the Stoogeum (Three Stooges Museum).