Congratulations to all the students completing this year of Hebrew Highschool!!!            

What do Jewish humor, Jesus and his disciples, and our journey through the desert to Mount Sinai to receive the Torah all have in common? They will each be discussed at the upcoming Scholar in Residence program this weekend! If you have not yet signed up, please e-mail Vickie Amron today at vickiea@torat-el.org or call [...]

It has been nearly one hundred years since the first Bat Mitzvah took place in Manhattan when Judith Kaplan Eisenstein, the daughter of Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan, was called to the bima to read from a chumash on a Shabbat morning. Perhaps that is why I came across two different articles this week about the Bnei [...]

During Passover I came across a very interesting article in The Jewish Week written by Eric Herschthal  that was addressing the following question:  Can religion, especially Judaism, work if you don’t believe in the Big Guy upstairs? Below are some excerpts from the article The latest turn in the New Atheist debates can be summed [...]

I hope that you are having a wonderful Passover and that you had meaningful Sedarim. Our community Seder was lovely, filled with reflection, conversation, joyful music, and fun for all of the more than 75 participants, ages 3 to 100!  I am grateful to all who worked to make the evening so memorable, in particular [...]

Passover is less than a week away! In the midst of your cleaning, cooking, and shopping, check out the following resources to get you ready for the holiday: 1) Check out the Torat El Passover schedule here. 2) For the form to sell your Hametz, and for details on the Fast and Feast of the [...]

*One note before getting to this week’s message: Passover is coming! 1) As you prepare for Passover, I recommend you review the following important and helpful guidelines written by the Rabbinical Assembly. 2) A reminder: if you have not signed up for our community Seder, please do so by this Wednesday, March 28th. This week [...]

Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims of the senseless shooting yesterday at a Jewish school in Southwestern France. We are, of course, always heartbroken to hear news of such senseless violence that claims the lives of innocent people, and as Jews we are particularly pained by the loss of members of our [...]

Before this morning’s message, I want to take a moment to thank Cantor Siegel, Ben Laskowitz, all of our teachers and students who made our Erev Purim celebration such a success! With over 200 people in attendance we had a wonderful Purim experience filled with joy, laughter, song, and some great costumes! Thank you to [...]

Purim is almost here! Here are a few creative renditions of the Puirm story to get you ready for the holiday. The Maccabeats  Raise Your Glass Sesame Street explains Purim Purim as a Western Plus: An interesting bit of Purim history Thank you to all of our volunteers who helped make yesterday’s Purim carnival such [...]