Hardening the Heart: Thoughts on Parashat Va’era

The notion of hardening the heart occurs 20 times in the book of Exodus.

Ten of these occurrences state either that Pharoah hardened his [own] heart (8:28, 9:34) or say that Pharoah’s heart hardened, suggesting that this was something that Pharoah did on his own (7:13, 7:14, 7:22, 8:11, 8:15, 9:7 , 9:35). The other ten occurrences attribute the heart hardening to God (4:21, 7:3, 9:12, 10:1, 10:20, 10:27, 11:10, 14:4, 14:8, 14:17).

The idea that God intentionally hardened Pharoah’s heart has always troubled me. Why would God do that? And how, if God made this happen, can we blame Pharoah and hold him accountable for his actions? Continue reading

MESH Report 3/19/2019

meshReport from Captain Stuart Green:

It was an especially busy night for the Carol Starr MESH cafe. We had 24 guests and 4 takeaways. Chef Jennifer Moses prepared a delicious meal of baked flounder with creamy broccoli sauce, macaroni and cheese, and salad. This was supplemented with chickpea spinach stew and okra with potatoes, repurposed from Shabbat. Sixteen of our guests had seconds. The meal was served and cleaned up by MESH teens Shayna, Josephine, Talia, Siona, Jonah, and Amalia, plus MESH professionals Adrienne and Joe. Continue reading

Journey From Song to Solitude

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Now Showing in The Shomrei Gallery: Journey: From Song to Solitude, The Photographs of Shomrei Congregant Nick Levitin

Dear Friends,

I’d like to invite you to an exhibit of my photographs currently on display at Shomrei.

This exhibit, entitled Journey: From Song to Solitude, is a reflection of my own journey with photography. Although, I started taking pictures when I was a young boy, the 70s was when I began in earnest. It was a volatile and dramatic time that offered up dramatic images of the passions of that decade. That is the first part of the exhibit. Over time, I have been drawn to more serene subjects and those make up the second half of this exhibit.

Net proceeds of any photographs sold goes to Shomrei’s Refugee Assistance Group.

The photos are on display in the gallery on the second floor. I do hope you will stop by and take a look.

Thanks,
Nick

 

Florida Shooting Moment of Silence at Shomrei

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This Last Sunday, Feb 25, about 25 Shomrei congregants observed a 6 minute moment of silence in memory of the murdered victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida.  The observance was at 2:19pm, the time the shooting began and the 6 minutes of silence reflected the duration of the shooting.

17 candles were lit in memory of the 17 victims and a small banner was placed nearby which read “Do not stand by when you neighbor’s blood is shed.”  (Lev. 19:16)

Rabbi David Greenstein read psalm 20, and reminded those gathered that psalms and prayers are not enough.
Continue reading

Mesh Cafe Feb 13, 2018

IMG_1376From Captain Aileen Grossberg

On a beautiful winter evening, 21 guests including 3 children gathered at Shomrei’s MESH Cafe housed temporarily at the Union Baptist Church.

Our guests enjoyed a hearty  meal of black bean soup, salad, salmon teriyaki with brown rice, carrots and broccoli. This filling meal ended with brownies and clementines. Our vegetarian guests received a serving of protein from hard cooked eggs. Continue reading

@nourish, Shabbat Speaker Series, Fall Line-Up

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Here is our fall line-up of speakers for @nourish. Please join me for what will be an interesting series.  @nourish (“at nourish”) is Shomrei’s Shabbat seminar/discussion/activity series for adults presented by Shomrei JLC (Jewish Learning Center). Occurring monthly @nourish will bring varied and interesting speakers or activity leaders to Shomrei to engage our brains, bodies and being.

@nourish is free and open to the public.

Continue reading