Last year, I had the opportunity to work with this fantastic young crew who were putting on a local branch of the Ramadan Tent Project. RTP as its called, originated in London. The premise is simple--for a couple of nights at the beginning of Ramadan, the community is invited to a break-the-fast gathering.
I’ll never forget the one and only time I made the mistake of not listening to my mother’s warning of “Say that again, and I’ll wash your mouth out with soap.” I had been practicing asserting my “maturity” in language by using certain curse words. I was asked repeatedly to stop and didn’t heed the warning.
Yazkor sermon from Monday, May 21, 2018 - Rabbi David Kosak, Recorded and edited by Ed Kraus.
Recording from Shabbat Services, May 18-19, 2018 - Rabbi Eve Posen and Rabbi David Kosak
A few short reflections on Shavuot itself. It is the third of our three festival or pilgrimage holidays when our ancestors would celebrate by coming together at the ancient temple. On the spiritual level, it also completes a path of meaning that begins on Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot, then continues on Pesach/Passover, before concluding on Shavuot. This path carries us from creation (Rosh Hashanah), to redemption (Passover) and finally to the revelation that occurs on Shavuot when we received the Torah.
As I was writing Pirkei Imahot with Lois Shenker two years ago, we both challenged each other to come up with three-word bios for ourselves. We’d asked our other contributors for the same thing, so we thought we’d better do it too. I really struggled with this task. How would I represent myself in three words? Am I a “mother, rabbi, friend”?
D'var from Friday, May 11, 2018 - Rabbi David Kosak, D'var from Saturday, May 12, 2018 - Gail Sherman
