A semblance of normalcy is returning to CMI. Since September we are back in the Sanctuary having services, and I am again teaching my B’mitzvah students in person. We are back inside the building, the CMI Community has returned! COVID has proved to be much more of an ongoing challenge to all of us and our families but like everything else in life, this too shall pass. Not only will it pass but it will make us so much stronger.
Read MoreThe beauty of the High Holy Days, accompanied by the splendor of ancient sounds of the shofar and festival music that fill our hearts and homes, is still with us. We are commanded to seek forgiveness and to return to righteous living—the concept of teshuvah. Before the spirit of teshuvah leaves us for the colors of autumn and shorter days, we might ask ourselves how best to re-engage with our congregation.
Read MoreI am excited to say that we have now gone into a post COVID period and that means returning to shul. Yet, the excitement is tempered by the fact that it will be a measured opening, determined by the virus status and health guidelines. I cannot wait to see all my little friends running gleefully once more down our infamously long hallways and hear their sweet voices in song in the choir room.
Read MoreThis is a year of turning: turning to reflect upon our past and then turning to embrace our future. This concept is embodied in teshuvah, our process of repentance throughout our High Holy Days. According to Rabbi Eliezar, teshuvah was created even before God began to create the world. Our existence depends so much upon our ability to reflect, reconsider, and return to our best selves that it was a necessary building block of creation.
Read MoreGuided by the Jewish values of pikuach nefesh to save a life, chesed, loving kindness, and kehillah, community, at this time we are continuing to plan for in-person services with the additional requirement that everyone who is eligible for a vaccine (those 12 and older) must show proof of full vaccination in order to attend in-person, indoor events, classes, and activities. We will also continue our policy that everyone must wear a mask at all times while in our building.
Read MoreWe have made it through more than a year of the pandemic. Our lives have been reinvented, our Shabbat Services are over the internet. We re-created our entire community onto a new virtual reality. If we have learned anything from this experience we have found new and wonderful strengths. The pandemic and Zoom has…
Read MoreThe Hebrew words “gam zeh ya’avor”, which in English translate to “this too shall pass”, have been evoked frequently for more than a year. We trace the origin of the phrase to the legends of King Solomon, who is traditionally portrayed as “wealthy and wise’….
Read MoreJudaism embraces a tradition of counting, from the number of days during creation to the number of Israelites who left Egypt, from number of commandments to the number of years we wandered in the wilderness. We are still in…
Read MoreA year has gone by and still we have not had a Shabbat Service in the chapel at CMI. Who would have known that this pandemic would have lasted this long?
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