Shemini | Rabbi Michael Siegel | April 26, 2025
Remembering Pope Francis Through a Jewish Lens Parshat Shemini 2025 Rabbi Michael Siegel An oxymoron is a figure of speech, usually one or two words, in which seemingly contradictory terms appear side by side. Here are a few examples: alone together bittersweet deafening silence deceptively honest Oxymoron comes from the Greek word oksús (meaning “keen”) and Continue Reading »
Rabbi Michael Siegel | April 20, 2025
On this last day of Passover, we gather for Yizkor and find ourselves ending the holiday where we began: focused on the sacred exercise of memory. The Haggadah instructed us on the first night: “In every generation, each person must see themselves as if they personally had gone out of Egypt.” This central imperative of Continue Reading »
Rabbi Michael Siegel | February 21, 2025
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel was once quoted as saying, “I am a hopeful person by nature,” an “optimist against my better judgment.” I think that Heschel could have been describing the Jewish people, who have long been optimists against all rationality or reason. The greatest example of this is the fact that Israel’s national anthem Continue Reading »
Bo | Rabbi Michael Siegel | February 1, 2025
The Necessity of Teaching Our Children Passover and International Holocaust Day Rabbi Michael S. Siegel February 1, 2025 It was the moment that our people had been waiting for, for hundreds of years. The plagues had devastated Egypt, and the God of Israel had shown beyond a shadow of a doubt who the true divinity was. Continue Reading »
Vayechi | Rabbi Michael Siegel | January 13, 2025
Vayechi: And He Lived Remembering President Jimmy Carter, Warts and All Rabbi Michael Siegel January 11, 2025 Oliver Cromwell was an English statesman, politician, and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. When sitting for a portrait by artist Sir Peter Lely, he asked to be depicted with pimples, warts Continue Reading »
Rabbi Michael Siegel | December 9, 2023
It is Shabbat Hanukkah. Ask any Jew how to observe Hanukkah and most will be able to tell you that for 8 days we kindle the Hanukkah Menorah, each night in ascending order. We eat either Latkes or Sufganiyot (according to your taste) and play dreidel. But ask the same group why we kindle the Continue Reading »
Bereshit | Rabbi Michael Siegel | October 14, 2023
B’herif Ayin is an ancient phrase that goes all the way back to time of the Bible. It means in the blink of an eye. The Rabbis use it to describe how quickly things can change. In an instant everything is different…in the blink of an eye. While many of us did not know the Continue Reading »
Yom Kippur | Rabbi Michael Siegel | September 27, 2023
Rabbi Michael Siegel | Anshe Emet Synagogue | Yom Kippur 5784 | Blum Robert Desnos was an influential French poet in the first half of the 19th Century. Desnos was also Jewish. During World War II, he served in the French Underground. Eventually, he was captured and sent to a concentration camp. The story of what Continue Reading »
Kol Nidre | Rabbi Michael Siegel | September 26, 2023
Rabbi Michael Siegel | Anshe Emet Synagogue Kol Nidre 2023/5784 | Sanctuary In my life, I have attended only one high school reunion. It was my 20th, and I have not been to one since. A bit of background is in order. In high school I was a football player first and a student second. Continue Reading »
Rosh Hashanah | Rabbi Michael Siegel | September 26, 2023
Rabbi Michael S. Siegel | High Holy Days 2023 Rosh Hashanah Day I | Sanctuary The word Emet is chanted 4 times. Emet means truth. On Rosh Hashanah of 1873, 20 Jews gathered in the living room of Louis Sax on the North Side of Chicago. Those joined together to welcome the New Year had Continue Reading »
