By Rabbi Leibel Agar, Beth Jacob Congregation Ah, the first day of spring. The sun is shining brightly, a warm breeze gently blows through the trees, branches sway lazily. A few birds chirp their delightful song of renewal and rebirth. And yet, along with spring’s serenity, a more restless time

By Rabbi Judy Chessin, Temple Beth Or It has now been a year since Israel executed Operation Golden Hand, Mivtza Yad Zahav, Feb. 12, 2024 in Rafah, Gaza, successfully rescuing Fernando Simon Marman and Luis Har, Israeli Argentinian hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak.

By Rabbi Shmuel Klatzkin Chabad of Greater Dayton There is a striking verse in the Lecha Dodi, sung as we welcome Shabbat each Friday night. It sings of Shabbat as that which was: “From the very beginning, from time primordial, chosen: Last in creation, first in thought.” Simply, Shabbat was

By Rabbi Leibel Agar, Beth Jacob Congregation As November rolls around, my thoughts turn to Thanksgiving. For many Americans, Thanksgiving is a chance to take a break from work or school and hang out with our families. We gather around the table and share a big dinner of turkey and

By Rabbi Aubrey L. Glazer, Beth Abraham Synagogue Why do we gather? As a tribal and global community, Jews know that gatherings play a huge role in our lives. In this process of our comings together of friends, family, and co-workers, Priya Parker teaches that we all have the potential

By Rabbi Tina Sobo Temple Israel Teshuva, generally translated as repentance, is a concept we Jews draw a lot from during the High Holidays. Its root meaning is to return. Most would say that we are returning to God, to a more righteous path of action, etc., and that this

By Rabbi Levi Simon, Chabad of Greater Dayton There is a captivating story in the Talmud that illuminates the extent to which Judaism values, loves, and is tolerant of all people — and teaches us to do the same. There was once a gentile who wished to convert to Judaism

By Rabbi Judy Chessin, Temple Beth Or On June 14, 1777, our Stars and Stripes became the first national flag of the United States, when the Continental Congress passed the first Flag Act to establish an official standard for the new nation and show solidarity with the Continental Army. In

By Rabbi Cary Kozberg Temple Sholom, Springfield Jewish tradition teaches that Shavuot is z’man matan Torateynu—the time of the giving of our Torah. It commemorates the moment when, after bringing us out of Egypt to Sinai, God called us to be a “kingdom of priests and a holy people” and

By Rabbi Haviva Horvitz, Temple Beth Sholom, Middletown Approximately one month prior to the deadline for this article, my husband, Ely David Spiegel, passed away of pancreatic cancer. In an effort to bring me comfort, a number of well-meaning friends tried to reassure me that “God only gives us what