Title Change for a New Year: Shaliach Tzibbur

This summer, July 1, marked my seventh anniversary of working at Shomrei. As most of you know, Shomrei has become not just a place of work, but a spiritual home for me and for my family. The connection I have to this congregation is deeper than I could have ever imagined. While I sometimes struggle with the importance of titles and prefer to think that I’m just me, sharing this sacred space with you, I am excited about my new title for this year and was encouraged by Rabbi Julie to offer an explanation of why this title was chosen and what Shaliach Tzibbur (“messenger of the community”) means, literally, figuratively, and personally. Continue reading

Bat Mitzvah L’dor Vador (from Generation to Generation)

Last week, synagogues across America marked the 100-year anniversary of the first official bat mitzvah. The ceremony occurred on March 18, 1922 and was created by Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan, the founder of Reconstructionist Judaism, to welcome his12-year-old daughter, Ruth, into the family of Jewish adults. While that sounds like a long history, it pales alongside the roughly 1,000-year longevity of the bar mitzvah. Moreover, it took almost 60 years for the bat mitzvah ceremony to attain equal stature with the bar mitzvah at synagogues in the U.S.

To explore this evolution — and what it says about the role of women and girls in Judaism — assistant JLC education director Lily Lucey invited Shomrei women of several generations on Sunday, March 19 to recount for the b’nai mitzvah classes what the bat mitzvah represented when they were 12 or 13. Continue reading

Enveloped In Love – Our Kiddush Experience

On Feb 26, 2022, my family hosted the kiddush for Brian’s 10th  birthday party – first time double digits is an exciting chapter! The moment we entered synagogue, congregants wished Brian a happy birthday. Rabbinic Intern, Lily Lucy, welcomed us into the Hinei Ma Tov JLC event, by wishing Brian a good birthday and pointing out to the other students that the birthday table covers, balloons and food items were all set up so that the congregation could celebrate Brian entering his double-digit birthday. It made Brian feel so special. Continue reading

Open Hearts: Yom Kippur Sermon by Lily Lucey (5782/2021)

Editor’s Note: Rabbinic Intern Lily Lucey originally gave this sermon during the outdoor service on Yom Kippur 5782 (Sept 2021).

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“I tell you this to break your heart, by which I mean only that it break open and never close again to the rest of the world.”  -Mary Oliver

By show of hands… Has anyone here ever done something wrong, messed up, or made a mistake?

Okay, so all of us.  I mean, duh!  Why would we even need an annual day of atonement if we never did anything wrong?

And yet, while we may know that we’re all bound to make mistakes, how many opportunities do we really give ourselves to show people our imperfections, or at least the parts about ourselves that we think are imperfections?  And what happens when we do? Continue reading

Mourning Doves: Grief and Hope: Kol Nidre Sermon by Lily Lucey (5782/2021)

Editor’s Note: Rabbinic Intern Lily Lucey originally gave this sermon during the outdoor service on Kol Nidre 5782 (Sept 2021).

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A fiddler on the roof.  Sounds crazy, no?  But here, in our little village of Anatevka, you might say every one of us is a fiddler on the roof trying to scratch out a pleasant, simple tune without breaking his neck.  It isn’t easy.  You may ask, “Why do we stay up there if it’s so dangerous?  Well, we stay because Anatevka is our home.  And how do we keep our balance?  That I can tell you in one word: tradition!

 

Tevye captures something that is at the essence of Judaism and that is intensely heightened throughout our High Holiday liturgy: that we are always acknowledging the fragility of life, while continuing to find a way to live it, carrying with us the suffering not just of this moment but of all of our people before us and all of the generations to come. Continue reading