In the Torah portion for this week, there is a famous verse that reads: כִּ֤י תִבְנֶה֙ בַּ֣יִת חָדָ֔שׁ וְעָשִׂ֥יתָ מַעֲקֶ֖ה לְגַגֶּ֑ךָ וְלֹֽא־תָשִׂ֤ים דָּמִים֙ בְּבֵיתֶ֔ךָ כִּֽי־יִפֹּ֥ל הַנֹּפֵ֖ל מִמֶּֽנּוּ׃ “8 If you build a new house, you must construct a guard rail around your roof to avoid being culpable in the event someone should fall from it.” …

Beth Miriam has been doing first and last day Festival services for many years.  (The Festivals are Sukkot, Pesach and Shavuot).  However, attendance has been very limited, especially when the Festival lands on a weekday.  Therefore, to adapt to this, Beth Miriam is going to launch the Festival Experiences. At each Festival, there will be…

HIGH HOLIDAY SCHEDULE UPDATED SEPTEMBER 6, 2013 Sunday, September 8 Cemetery Service 10AM Friday, September 13 Kol Nidre 8 PM. Saturday, September 14 Yom Kippur Children’s (1-5yrs) 9 A.M. Morning 10 A.M. Study with the Rabbi 1 P.M. Community Family 3 P.M. Musical Spiritual Reflection 4 P.M. Yizkor (Memorial ) 4:30 P.M. (approx.) Neilah (Closing)…

Exciting news: Beth Miriam is planning to go to Israel from March 2-11, 2014.  Rabbi Stanway will be leading the trip with the professional staff from ITAS Tours, professionals who are experts in Israel trips.  There is an active committee of 9 congregants who are planning the trip with the Rabbi. The promotional materials and registration forms…

It has been all over the news in the past couple of weeks: Lance Armstrong is a liar and he admits it.  Well, I must say that knowing what we all know about him lately, it is not very surprising that he is a liar and consistently lied about his doping throughout much of his…

Parashat Vaeira – Holiness is Relationship As you are probably aware from the Passover Seder, we have four different cups of wine or grape juice. Each one, we are taught, refers to a verb that God uses in the Torah to describe the process of the Exodus from Egypt. One of those words is והוציתי…

The parasha that we read this week begins the book of Exodus.  In it, we read what Pharaoh says at what we can imagine to be the beginning of his reign when we ‘arose and did not know Joseph.  He says, 9 וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל־עַמּוֹ הִנְֵּה עַם בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל רַב וְעָצוּם מִמֶּֽנּוּ: – “And he said unto…

The parasha this week has Joseph, the vizier of Egypt and newly-self-revealed brother of those who sought to kill him many years ago, sending his brothers back to Canaan to get their father, Jacob.  He is not angry with them but sends them on their way by saying, וַיְשַׁלַּ֜ח אֶת־אֶחָ֝יו וַיֵּלֵ֞כוּ וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֭ם אַֽל־תִּרְגְּז֝וּ בַּדָּֽרֶךְ:…

The latest heartbreaking tragedy at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT has given rise to the question that keeps coming back after every kind of tragedy, sickness, act of depravity.  It is a question that no one has answered despite their best efforts.  That question is, of course, ‘Why did God allow this…