Rabbi's Corner

Message from the Rabbi

Don’t Jump Off a Bridge
You shall neither side with the mighty (Others says “multitude.”) to do wrong—you shall not give perverse testimony in a dispute so as to pervert it in favor of the mighty (Exodus 23:2)
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Deciding when to break from the herd and when to follow the herd is growing ever more difficult as the information we get from so many different sources leaves us wondering what is the best path for us individually.  It is hard to know who’s approach will be most successful.  Even if we know what we want to accomplish, it is often difficult to know what the right path is to get there.  Certainly, following the majority isn’t always the best route. Maintaining perspective is difficult especially when so many others have lost theirs. As my mother often said to me when responding to my statement, “but everyone was doing it,” she would say, “just because everyone is jumping off a bridge doesn’t mean you should.”

Message from the Rabbi

One of the blessings we recite every morning is ברוך אתה ה´ אלוקינו מלך העולם מתיר אסורים “Who releases the captive.”​ This morning that blessing seems even more poignant.  Thanks to a coordinated effort of local, state and federal law enforcement, together with God's help not a single hostage or responder was hurt. ​

Message from the Rabbi

Now when Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although it was nearer; for God said, “The people may have a change of heart when they see war, and return to Egypt.” (Exodus 13:17)
“Are we there yet?”  We look forward to the destination sometimes without noticing the importance of the journey. 
““The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” ― Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

Finish Strong is returning Shabbat, January 22, 2022 "Green Team Shabbat"

Message from the Rabbi

Message from the Rabbi

Here is how you can help with supporting those suffering from the damage of hurricanes of this past week.
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Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund
Kentucky Red Cross: 
Donate online 
Text REDCROSS to 90999 to give $10 to American Red Cross Disaster Relief.
To donate by phone via credit card or to ask questions about donating money to the Red Cross, please call 1-800-HELP NOW (1-800-435-7669)
Verified GoFundMe pages created by community members and organizations in need
His House Ministries (Mayfield, Ky)
United Way of Kentucky
Disaster Relief At Work
Convoy of Hope
Aspire Appalachia
Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief
Shop Local Kentucky – purchase a “Kentucky Strong” T-shirt and 100% of the proceeds will go to the Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund
The Lee Initiative
Mayfield-Graves County United Way
Salvation Army Disaster Relief
Relevant Church (Mayfield, KY)
Rise and Shine (Bowling Green, KY)
Global Giving Midwest US Tornado Relief Fund
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
Samaritan’s Purse International Relief
Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort
Lutheran Disaster Response
Water with Blessings – Text WATER4SURVIVORS to 41444
Kentucky Counseling Center
 
Donate blood
Kentucky Red Cross: Find your local blood bank here
Kentucky Blood Center: Find a drive here
Blood Assurance: Schedule and appointment here
 
Donate clothes, blankets, food, water and other supplies 
*Suggested donations include gas, generators, storage bins/totes, space heaters, lash lights, head lamps, batteries, propane tanks, utility gloves, phone chargers, gas cans, socks, undergarments, blankets, coats, warm clothes, shoes, toiletries, paper towels, plastic utensils, paper plates, feminine hygiene products, baby formula, diapers, wipes, water, snacks, non-perishable foods.
The Salvation Army Kentucky/Tennessee Division
Dare to Care Food Bank
Ronald McDonald House Charities, 550 South First Street, Louisville, KY and 1300 Sports Center Dr, Lexington, KY (collecting donations through Dec. 17)
Northside Baptist Church, 611 W Lockridge St, Mayfield, KY
Fairview Baptist Church, 701 West Water Street, Mayfield, KY
Redemption City Church, 104 Railroad Ave., Dawson Springs KY, 270-425-4310
Dawson Spring High School, 317 Eli St, Dawson Springs, KY 42408
Mount Zion Baptist Church, 175 Graham Dr., Bowling Green, KY
Eleventh St Baptist Church, 1035 Kenton ST. Bowling Green, KY (collecting from Sunday, Dec. 12 through Wednesday, Dec. 15)
State Street Baptist Church, 340 State St. Bowling Green, KY (collecting from Sunday, Dec. 12 through Friday, Dec. 17)
Next Level Church, 1405 Veterans Memorial ln., Bowling Green, KY (accepting donations Tuesday, Dec. 14 through Thursday, Dec. 16,  10 a.m. to 2 p.m.)
McCracken County Cooperative Extension Service, 2025 New Holt rd., Paducah, KY 42001 (Accepting backpacks and toys through Dec. 20, will deliver to children of western KY for Christmas)
The Johnson Bar, 133 S. 3rd St. Paducah, KY. 42001 (9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 12)
First Baptist Church, 2890 Broadway St, Paducah, KY, 270-442-2728
Dry Ground Brewing Company, 3121 Broadway St, Paducah, KY 42001
Paducah Beer Werks, 301 N 4th St, Paducah, KY 42001
Lone Oak Baptist Church, 3601 Lone Oak Rd, Paducah, KY 42003
Community Kitchen, 1237 Martin Luther King Jr Drive, Paducah, KY
Hancock’s of Paducah, 3841 Hinkleville Road, Paducah, KY (accepting donations of clean quilts and blankets, Tuesday, Dec. 14 through Friday, Dec. 17, 9 a.m. to 5pm, and Saturday, Dec. 18, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.)
Barrel & Bond, 100 Broadway Paducah, KY 42001
Stepstone Family and Youth Services, 78 Caky Dr, Benton, KY, 270-527-8388
Marshall County Exceptional Center, 198 Old Symsonia Rd, Benton, KY, 270-252-6530 (8 a.m. to 2 p.m. from Sunday, Dec. 12 – Friday, Dec. 17)
Central Elementary School, 115 Jim Goheen Road Benton, KY 42025 (accepting donations on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.)
Jefferson County Public Schools, VanHoose Education Center, 3332 Newburg Road, Louisville, KY 40218 (accepting donations from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m through Friday)
Veteran’s Club Inc., 9419 Seatonville rd. at Fern Creek Christian Church, Louisville, KY 40291
Four Pegs Smokehouse and Bar, 1053 Goss Ave, Louisville, KY 40217
Six Forks Burger Company, 1039 Ash St. Louisville, KY 40217, (Saturday, Dec. 11 through Monday, Dec. 13, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.)
Roebling Point Books, 601 Overton Street, Newport, KY 41071
Newport Fire Department, 998 Monmouth St, Newport, KY 41071
Walnut Grove Baptist Church, 2941 Highland Lick Rd, Russellville, KY
Akridge Farm Supply, 724 Fairview Ave, Eddyville, KY 42038, 270-388-2910 – Looking specifically for tarps and gas cans
Cave City Community Center (Senior Center),  105 Duke St, Cave City, KY 42127
Jamestown City Park Batting Cages, 123 Park Ave, Jamestown, KY 42629 (drop off from 2 p.m. – 6 p.m. Saturday through Thursday)
Russell Springs City Hall, 487 Main Street, Russell Springs, KY 42642 (drop off from 7 a.m. – 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday)
St. Jerome’s Catholic Church, 20 KY-339, Fancy Farm, KY 42039
Calvert City Civic Center, 991 5th Ave SE, Calvert City, KY 42029 (Drop off until 5 p.m. on Saturday Dec. 11 and Sunday Dec. 12)
Water drive at Pritchard Community Center, 404 S Mulberry St, Elizabethtown, KY 42701 (need cases of bottled water)
Felix Martin Hall, 501 W. Everly Brothers Blvd., Greenville, KY. 42345
Kentucky Education Development Corporation, Ashland office (904 Rose Road) and Lexington Office (118 James Court Ste 60)
Anderson County Sheriff’s Office, 208 South Main Street, Lawrenceburg, KY 40342
Winchester Police Department, 16 S. Maple Street, Winchester, KY (accepting donations until Monday evening)
Georgetown Fire Department, 101 Jacobs Drive, Georgetown, KY (accepting donations all week)
Clarksville Town Hall, 2000 Broadway Street, Clarksville, IN, (accepting donation Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.)
Hope 2 All Food Pantry, 307 W. Mose Rager Blvd. Drakesboro, KY 42337
Henderson County Schools/Henderson Police Department, 735 N. Elm St., Henderson, KY (will fill a bus to deliver to Dawson Springs, can drop off 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.)
Oh Sew Sweet Boutique, 210 East Arch Street, Madisonville, Ky.
Green River Distilling Co., 10 Distillery Rd., Owensboro, KY, 42301 (accepting donations from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Friday, Dec. 17)
 
Volunteer
***Advisory: Please avoid obstructing search and rescue efforts by calling/checking-in beforehand***
Kentucky Emergency Management – Fill out the volunteer/donate link here
Kentucky Red Cross
Catalyst Church, 114 Kings Dr., Mayfield, KY, (270) 356-1191
South Warren High School, 8140 Nashville Road, Bowling Green, 270-467-7500
Bremen Volunteer Fire Department, 51 College St., Bremen, KY 42325, 270-525-6002
Lone Oak Baptist Church, 3601 Lone Oak Rd, Paducah, KY 42003
Bowling Green Community Action Center, 171 Center St, Bowling Green, KY, 270-782-4437
Gasper Brewing Company, 302 State Street, Bowling Green, KY. – need volunteers to serve food
Mayfield City Hall, 211 E. Broadway, Mayfield, KY – Volunteers needed with drills
Marshall County High School, 416 High School Rd. Benton, KY 42025 (volunteers will be shuttled to impacted areas starting at 7 a.m. daily.)
Kentucky Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster
God’s Pit Crew – Crisis Response Team
Team Rubicon Disaster Response
Covenant Community Church, 1055 North Main Street, Madisonville, KY, 270-821-2000
Mercy Chefs – Mayfield, KY Tornado Response (shifts available throughout the week)
Samaritan’s Purse International Relief
Kentucky Tornado Relief Initiative by Senate candidate Charles Booker
Eight Days of Hope – Rapid Response Event (Mayfield, KY)
 
Support pets/stray animals in need
The Humane Society Animal Rescue & Response Team
Kentucky Humane Society
Foster a pet or donate to these local shelters:
Mayfield-Graves County Animal Shelter
Bowling Green/Warren County Humane Society
Hopkins County Humane Society
Caldwell County Animal Shelter
Muhlenburg County Animal Shelter
Ceglinski Animal Clinic, 5401 Blandville Rd., Paducah, KY, 270-554-0171 (offering free housing for displaced pets)
River Retriever Kennels LLC, 5796 Old Mayfield Rd., Paducah, KY, 270-556-4433 (offering housing for displaced pets)
Marcus Rushing, 224 Hughes Rd., Wickliffe, KY,  985-605-4068 (has pasture and barn for cattle/horses, free of charge to victims of the tornadoes)
Mociso Farms Livestock Sanctuary & Rescue Ltd., 595 Osborne Rd. Ekron, Ky. (drop off pet supplies, food and any other items for disaster relief from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.)
 
Refer community members in distress to these help lines
SAMHSA – Call or text 1-800-985-5990

Message from the Rabbi

"If you take this one from me, too, and he meets with disaster, you will send my white head down to Sheol in sorrow." (Genesis 44:29)

There are events in our lives that break us. However, there is no way to determine that in advance. All we can do is take one day at a time.  

Imagining the worst is human nature, predicting the future is not.   

FinishStrong is Back - Join me for a discussion of the “Topic of the Day” right after services on Shabbat 
“In the Beginning” class is next Wednesday, December 15, 2021 at 8:00pm
In person at GHC and on Zoom

Message from the Rabbi

Message from the Rabbi

Message from the Rabbi

Message from the Rabbi

Rising from the Pit
When Midianite traders passed by, they pulled Joseph up out of the pit. They sold Joseph for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who brought Joseph to Egypt. (Genesis 37:28)
“This is the pits” can often be heard by a child as they get too much homework or get a poor grade on an exam.  The pit is the universal allegory for when things have gone wrong. Yet, in this story this is a glimmer of hope.  Someone comes to help (albeit not great help) and this is the beginning of Joseph’s self awareness and ultimate rise. 
Sometimes our beginning starts at the bottom and an understanding that we can do better, be better than earlier versions of ourselves. 

May we all share great food, friendship and abiding gratitude this Thanksgiving. 
Join us this evening at 7:30pm at Immaculate Conception in Irvington or Click here for the zoom link for our annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Gathering.

Message from the Rabbi

Who Are We Lying to and Why?
 
"And Laban said to Jacob, “What did you mean by keeping me in the dark and carrying off my daughters like captives of the sword? Why did you flee in secrecy and mislead me and not tell me?" (Genesis 31:26-27)
 
Jacob begins with lying to his father to give him the birthright. Then Lavan tricked Jacob into marrying his older daughter before his true love. Jacob in return tricked Lavan by leaving, after his many years of working together with him, in the middle of the night.
 
We tell half truths and we intimate alternative facts and sometimes we just lie to each other and to ourselves. Do we do so to save another pain or as a shortcut or to truly take advantage of someone?  Rabbi Chaim Luzzato in Mesilat Yesharim reminds us to be exact in our language.  
 
We must always ask ourselves, are we stretching the truth, are we exaggerating and if so, why?  Wouldn’t it just be better to tell the truth? 
 
Please join me for “In The Beginning.” Together we will understand the stories that shape the foundation of Judaism. Wednesday, November 17, 2021 on Zoom click here 

On Saturday evening November 20, 2021 at 7:30pm I will be teaching at the Westchester Night of Jewish Learning. My class will be “Modern Jewish Prayers.” There are many extraordinary Israeli musicians producing music that speaks to our hopes and dreams.  Join me as I share them through videos and lyrics.
click here
 
To register for the event and see all of the offerings please go to www.wjcouncil.org
 

Message from the Rabbi

“I am a resident alien among you; sell me a burial site among you, that I may remove my dead for burial.” (Genesis 23:4)

After Sarah dies, Abraham feels lost, dazed, confused. 

As with most losses in our lives, we feel an initial numbness, even shock that leaves us in a transitional state.  It is our way of coping and is part of a necessary process of surviving.  For some it will last a long time, for others it will be shorter. 
Whether you have had losses in your life or not, we are all now in a transitional state because of the overwhelming loss brought on by COVID. Many in our community arte feeling dislocated.  That is normal.  Until we all land together, be patient with yourself and with others.

Message from the Rabbi

“I will make of you a great nation, And I will bless you; I will make your name great, And you shall be a blessing.”  (Genesis 12:2)
 
In convincing Abraham to leave the only place he has ever known, God promised Abraham two concrete and two abstract benefits.  He will be the father of a great nation and experience extraordinary renown.  He will be blessed and he will be a blessing to others.
The first two are easy to understand.  Being blessed and being a blessing to others is a little more difficult to define. But as Justice Stewart said in another context, “I know it when I see it.”
Feeling blessed and being a blessing to others is a feeling that can motivate.  It can challenge us to be better, it can drive us to build a better world.  The feeling of gratitude  for what we have and the equally substantive feeling of knowing our value to others is immeasurable. 

I am interested in teaching a class that would meet weekly to look at the adult lessons of Genesis on Wednesday evenings at 8:00pm. We would spend time reevaluating the Bible stories we may have learned as children or may have overlooked entirely.  Would anyone be interested in that?

Message from the Rabbi

Life is hard, challenging, exhausting, complicated and demanding. You can fill in the rest.  We all “need a place to get away,” a place of joy where we can unplug for an hour of two.  
The holiday of Sukkot, known as the Time of Our Rejoicing, culminates in the holiday of Simchat Torah when we conclude the Torah and start over again.  It is the time when we can restart and plug in to something deeper and more rejuvenating.  
Our synagogue is a place of joy, acceptance, diversity and kindness.  Make it a point to engage with us this year. I can almost guarantee you will find something unexpected that will bring you back again and again. 

This year we will only be having services on Tuesday (9/28), 9:30 am for Shemini Atzeret (including Yizkor) and Wednesday (9/29), 9:30 am for Simchat Torah. There will be no evening services.

Message from the Rabbi

Tying Up Loose Ends
The LORD said to Moses: The time is drawing near for you to die. Call Joshua and present yourselves in the Tent of Meeting, that I may instruct him. Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the Tent of Meeting. (Deuteronomy 31:14)

"Getting your affairs in order" is the phrase we use today when we recognize our end is imminent.  It is the way we prepare ourselves and our loved ones for when we are gone.  The challenge for most is not knowing when that will happen.  Our rabbis teach, treat every day as if it were your last.  

Today is the end of the Jewish year.  Tomorrow we begin again.  Today is our opportunity to make one last effort to accomplish our goals for last year.  Tomorrow we commit ourselves to new goals or goals we were still not successful accomplishing.  Today is the day to get our morals and values in order.

Sharon and I wish you and the whole world good health and wisdom, joy and shalom. We pray for a safe, loving, and happy New Year  and with much gratitude for all of you, Shana Tova .