Rabbi Michael Siegel | June 19, 2020
What an amazing sight this is! I have been on a journey with Pastor Chris Harris for the past 8 years and we have walked a great distance together. Chris, I am so proud of the way that you, along with an army of Bright Star volunteers, have brought together elected officials, corporate leaders and Continue Reading »
Naso | Rabbi Michael Siegel | June 6, 2020
Sometime in the 8th Century, a silversmith etched Hebrew letters on a small piece of thin, pounded silver. It was then folded and presumably worn either as jewelry or pinned to the person’s clothing. This tiny sliver of silver contains the earliest example of Hebrew writing in the world today. For those who would deny Continue Reading »
Memorial Day, Yom HaZikaron | Rabbi Michael Siegel | May 23, 2020
I experienced Yom HaZikaron only once in the land of Israel, but I never forgot it. Yom HaZikaron is the Israeli version of Memorial Day, a 24-hour period set aside for a nation to remember its fallen soldiers. At 8 p.m., sirens blast throughout the country announcing this most solemn day. The seriousness with which Continue Reading »
Behar-Behukotai | Rabbi Michael Siegel | May 16, 2020
Growing up in Cleveland in the 60’s, football was the civil religion. No matter what part of the city you lived in, your politics, religion, race, or socioeconomic standing, the one thing that everyone could agree on was their love of the Cleveland Browns. I can still remember the excitement of a Sunday as game Continue Reading »
Emor | Rabbi Michael Siegel | May 12, 2020
In these days of COVID 19 it is important to find reasons to smile; opportunities for laughter. There are certain comedians that make me smile without even having to watch their routines. I just have to hear their names. For me, the Marx Brothers, the antics of Groucho, Harpo, and Chico, rank high on my Continue Reading »
Acharei Mot-Kedoshim | Rabbi Michael Siegel | May 2, 2020
Sometime in early 1967, the BBC began publicizing an upcoming live television event that would “for the first time ever link five continents and bring people face to face with humankind, in places as far apart as Canberra and Cape Kennedy, Moscow and Montreal, Samarkand and Soderfors, Takamatsu and Tunis.” This ambitious program would be Continue Reading »
Tazria-Metzora | Rabbi Michael Siegel | April 25, 2020
In 1975, the psychologist Edward Tronick first presented the results of the “Still Face Experiment”. He focused on the powerful attachment babies had with the face of their mothers, and the way they study every movement every facial expression. They also noted how babies work to illicit responses in the form of facial expressions, a Continue Reading »
Shemini | Rabbi Michael Siegel | April 18, 2020
Hello Darkness My old friend I’ve come to talk with you again Growing up in the 60s, one of my favorite songs was The Sound of Silence, by Simon and Garfunkel. This song captured the mood of a turbulent generation: the assassination of JFK, the war in Vietnam, and the civil rights movement. It spoke Continue Reading »
Yizkor | Rabbi Michael Siegel | April 16, 2020
We gather in the midst of a world pandemic. As of this writing, there are 613,000 cases of people infected in the United States with the Coronavirus. So far, 26,000 people have died. This morning, we will recite Yizkor, and joining in this service of memory are those around the world who are remembering loved Continue Reading »
Hol Hamoed | Rabbi Michael Siegel | April 11, 2020
