Saturday, June 7, 2025
On this ordination anniversary June 6, 2025
Tuesday, May 27, 2025
Bridge-builders (for Sarah Milgrim) - May 27, 2025
Monday, May 19, 2025
Guide us through Difficult Days - Daily Minyan Reading - May 19, 2025
Facebook Live Daily Minyan
The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah
Original reading
May 19, 2025
Creator of the Universe,
Sustainer of the cycles of nature,
Companion along the path of our lives,
Guide us through difficult days.
Celebrate with us in moments of personal achievement.
Stand by us when the narrow vision of the few
undermines the well-being of the many.
Inspire us to rise up when we recognize
An increasing lack of respect for
The accumulation of knowledge
And the application of wisdom.
Remind us that revelation can include
Our ever-growing insight into the workings of creation
And deeper understanding of
the mysteries and wonders of our very existence.
Open our hearts to discover the meanings
Embodied within our experiences
As we seek to infuse every moment
With hope, with love, and with peace.
Bless us all within Your Oneness
As we strive to be one.
Friday, May 16, 2025
Choosing - May 13, 2025
Thursday, May 15, 2025
Invocation - Clay County MO commission meeting - May 15, 2025
Monday, May 12, 2025
Reflected in our eyes - Daily Minyan Reading - May 12, 2025
Friday, May 9, 2025
To my senator - May 2, 2025
Monday, May 5, 2025
Fashioner of Worlds - Daily Minyan Reading - May 5, 2025
Facebook Live Daily Minyan
The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah
Original reading
May 5, 2025
Soul of the Universe,
Fashioner of worlds,
Designer of building blocks of our very lives,
Sustainer of our well-being,
As we observe the wonders around us,
Inspire us to act in ways
That will preserve the earth
Maintain lakes, seas, rivers and oceans
in a pristine state
Protect the cleanliness of the air we breathe
Safeguard habitats for animals
And improve the human condition
For people throughout the world
So that everyone will have food, shelter
And security.
Teach us that there is an inherent equality
That runs through all that You have made
So that we will see You wherever we look
And know that it is our responsibility
To act as if we are Your assistants, Your stewards
Making our planet a place that offers us all
Abundance, hope and peace.
Monday, April 21, 2025
Your light in our midst - Daily Minyan Reading - April 21, 2025 (on the day of the death of Pope Francis)
Wednesday, April 16, 2025
Longing for a future. - April 16, 2025
I recently received, from my cousin Paul, a family photo of an aunt and two uncles in their early childhood.
Their parents had immigrated to the United States from a small shtetl in Lithuania.
They lived in a small river town in Kansas where their father was a tailor.
The three of them look innocent and hopeful.
A number of decades later,
My family shared time and milestones
With all three of them.
I attended the funerals for two of them.
The other, a long time member of
the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., took me to lunch at the Club in his later years when I was in the city for a conference.
As of several days ago, all of their children have passed, leaving a legacy that has been passed on to new generations.
I wonder what would have happened if the rampant anti-immigrant sentiment in this country that began to spread in the decades after this photo was taken had started much earlier. Would they have come?
Would my mother, the youngest sibling in this family,
have been born?
Would my father's parents have immigrated to the United States, found each other, and married?
Sometimes, in the present, there are those who think they know so much, who are looking for easy answers, such as their claim that most any newcomer, seeking opportunity and security, wants to destroy our country.
THAT IS NOT THE CASE.
We do have room for immigrants today, but some people have no room in their hearts to be welcoming.
They fail to realize how their narrow attitude of suspicion and disdain towards newly-arrived immigrants would have affected the previous generations of their family, brave souls who took a chance in coming here.
If those immediate ancestors would have encountered prejudice, non-acceptance and harassment, they might have left in disappointment and sadness.
As for me, my arms and heart are still open wide for those who are seeking what my grandparents hoped to find in this country.
Did they find it?
For now, I will say...perhaps.
And I will do what I can to transform "perhaps' to "yes."
And during the Jewish High Holy Days, I visit the cemetery where my parents are buried to pay memorial tribute to them.
And then, I go to the graves of two of the three siblings in the photo above, because I am one of many who preserves their stories and memories.
They deserve nothing less.
Monday, April 14, 2025
Aspirations - Daily Minyan Reading - April 14, 2025
Saturday, April 12, 2025
Passover 5785 - April 12, 2025
Monday, April 7, 2025
To Persist and Persevere. - Daily Minyan Reading - April 7, 2025
Facebook Live Daily Minyan
The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah
Original reading
April 7, 2025
Creator of the Universe,
Author of Freedom,
Wellspring of salvation,
When we find ourselves
Living in the midst of challenges,
Give us strength to persevere.
When we recognize acts of cruelty
Around us,
Inspire us to respond with kindness.
When we are overwhelmed by
The spread of hearts that are closed,
Guide us to offer a welcoming embrace
To those who need support.
When we encounter minds
that have become narrow,
Provide us with persistence
In teaching the wide-ranging knowledge
That has been passed down to us
And that we can transmit to future generations.
Lift our spirits
As we move forward, one day to the next,
Kindling anew,
Within our souls,
The lights of love and hope.
Thursday, April 3, 2025
To Feel That We Belong - New song lyrics and video!
To Feel That We Belong (Larry Karol)
Based on a passage from the Passover Haggadah
We’re present, but unwanted
We’re vocal, not yet silenced
Our eyes can see all they try to hide
We won’t let them take our memories
We will rise up from the ruins
We will tread together, side by side
From oppression to liberation
From despair to celebration
Darkness to light - from wrong to right
We won’t let go of love that we believe in
We won’t stop building a world we want to live in
We won’t lose hope to feel that we belong
We won’t lose hope to feel that we belong
We’re forgotten, but remembered
We’re discounted, but we’re valued
Our lives matter more than they understand
We are strangers, but we’re neighbors
We can feel an enduring Presence
Calling for justice to spread to every land
From oppression to liberation
From despair to celebration
Darkness to light
From wrong to right
We won’t let go of love that we believe in
We won’t stop building a world we want to live in
We won’t lose hope to feel that we belong
We won’t lose hope to feel that we belong
What will we do to preserve our future?
Will we recall who we’ve come to be?
Will we choose trust and compassion
And continue on our journey to be free?
We won’t let go of love that we believe in
We won’t stop building a world we want to live in
We won’t lose hope to feel that we belong
We won’t lose hope to feel that we belong
We won’t lose hope to feel that we belong
To Feel That We Belong 04032025 Live Temple B’nai Jehudah OP Kansas