Rosh Hashanah Day One | Rabbi Michael Siegel | September 7, 2021
Catching Our Tears: Finding Our Humanity and our Judaism Rabbi Michael S. Siegel Rosh Hashanah 2021 In my hand I hold a small clay bottle. It can easily be mistaken for a random piece of pottery discovered on a dig in Israel. But it had a very specific purpose. This is a facsimile of an Continue Reading »
Erev Rosh Hashanah | Rabbi D'ror Chankin-Gould | September 6, 2021
The Power of Gratitude Rabbi D’ror Chankin-Gould Erev Rosh Hashanah 2021 For Thanksgiving last year, we drove an RV to Arizona. It was the height of the Pandemic. I hadn’t seen my parents in ages. It seemed like the only safe and reasonable way to get there. So, my family of four piled into a Continue Reading »
Ki Tavo | Rabbi Michael Siegel | August 31, 2021
How do you say Computer in Russian, Computer? In Spanish? Computadora In Japanese: Com puu tor Globalization has affected every aspect of our lives including or language. As most technological advances have been made In America it makes sense that the English terms would make their way around the world in their original form. The Continue Reading »
Shoftim | Rabbi D'ror Chankin-Gould | August 16, 2021
This week, and just this week, in our home, in our backyard, in the city of Chicago, the following people died from gun violence: Cordell Bass Andre Carter Ella French Kenneth Harvey Jeremy Head Lazerrick Jackson Stephan Roberts Tyrane Seals Daryl Willis Unknown (3) If you are like me, most of the time, you don’t Continue Reading »
Naso | Rabbi Michael Siegel | May 22, 2021
Imagine this scene. A slave people, who lived for hundreds of years under the whip and tyranny of Egypt. Stripped of a sense of self, these slaves inhabited a world where they were defined by the Egyptian overlords as something subhuman, abhorrent, no different than a pack animal. Now, miraculously freed from slavery, these same Continue Reading »
Kedoshim | Rabbi Michael Siegel | April 24, 2021
Love Your Neighbor A man walks into the car store wanting to buy a car. He pays the man at the counter and the salesperson says, “All right, just come back in 10 years to pick one up.” The man replies, “Morning or afternoon?” The dealer says, “Well, 10 years from now, what difference does it Continue Reading »
Tazria-Metzora | Rabbi Michael Siegel | April 17, 2021
Behind my desk in my office, there are two beautiful stained-glass windows. One is a striking image of the Prophet Jeremiah. So, I have the distinction of spending a great deal of time with the image of one of our great Prophets before me. Though I have not been spending a significant amount of time Continue Reading »
Yitro | Rabbi Michael Siegel | February 6, 2021
The Danger of a Post-Truth America I want to begin with a Midrash, a Rabbinic teaching, about our Torah reading this morning which, while composed well over a thousand years ago, could have easily been written today: “When Moses was engaged in writing the Torah, he had to write the work of each day of Continue Reading »
Yom Kippur | Rabbi D'ror Chankin-Gould | September 28, 2020
I was 15. I was away for the weekend at Camp Ramah in Ojai, California on a Shabbat retreat for Hebrew High School. I arrived in my bunk, unloaded my clothes, and the counselor invited the boys to gather outside for ice breakers. We sat in a circle of logs staring at our shoes, and started telling Continue Reading »
Yom Kippur | Rabbi David Russo | September 28, 2020
Just over 9 years ago, I was interviewing for a position here at Anshe Emet. I remember the first morning that I walked into Anshe Emet. As part of the interview, I attended morning minyan. I remember Debby Lewis picking me up from my hotel at 630 in the morning. And she told me that I Continue Reading »
