By Rabbi Cary Kozberg, Temple Sholom, Springfield I admit it. Since I first saw it as a kid, I have been a devotee of the 1956 film The Ten Commandments. Even as I came to realize the extreme liberties it takes with the biblical account (inaccuracies), what continues to recommend

By Rabbi Cary Kozberg, Temple Sholom, Springfield What follows are comments offered on Shabbat Vaetchanan (Deut. 3:23-7:11), learned and inspired by the writing of Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, may the memory of this righteous one be a blessing. Those who have read the Tanakh/Jewish Bible know that much of scriptural narrative

By Rabbi Cary Kozberg, Temple Sholom, Springfield Miami Valley rabbis share thoughts on unprecedented U.S. antisemitism In the Talmud, Tractate Kiddushin (29a), we learn: “The father is bound in respect of his son to circumcise, redeem (if the son is a firstborn), teach him Torah, marry him off, and teach

By Rabbi Cary Kozberg, Temple Sholom, Springfield “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way, when you went out of Egypt, how he happened upon you on the way and cut off all the stragglers at your rear when you were faint and weary, and he did not fear

By Rabbi Cary Kozberg, Temple Sholom, Springfield “Assail the Midianites and defeat them for they assailed you by the trickery they practiced against you (Num. 25:16-18).” This is God’s command to Moses, after rewarding Aaron’s grandson Pinchas for his response to a public and wanton act of apostasy committed by

At a congregational meeting on April 30, members of Temple Sholom in Springfield unanimously voted to place the Israeli flag on the bima (stage) in the temple’s sanctuary. According to Temple Sholom’s rabbi, Cary Kozberg, the motion was brought to the floor by a congregant who is an Israeli-American citizen.

By Rabbi Cary Kozberg, Temple Sholom, Springfield   A zealot must be shalem (perfect, whole), without blemish, before acting. — Kiddushin 60a It is the integrity of the leader that promotes integrity or prevents the “dis-integration” of the system he or she is leading. — Edwin Friedman,  A Failure of