Once again, we are shocked and saddened as a nation. Once again, our halls of education, meant to be a sanctuary from the worst of the world, are bloodied. Once again, we hear expressions of outrage and calls for new legislation aimed at preventing or reducing the periodic and murderous violence that erupts in our schools and colleges.

What a pleasure it was to celebrate my first high holidays with this striving community. I want to take a moment to thank the vast number of individuals who worked diligently behind the scenes to ensure that things flowed smoothly during our Days of Awe.

During Tashlikh, we symbolically transfer on to bread crumbs those actions and failings that no longer serve us, just as our ancestors transferred their sins on to the "scape goat" of antiquity. Over the last twenty years or so, this minor custom has seen a major revival in many communities.

Oasis Songs: Musings from Rav D Thursday, September 10, 2015 /26 Elul 5775 This Friday night, Ilene Safyan and I have selected melodies to our traditional Shabbat liturgy that we hope will be in keeping with our national observance of 9/11. We are dedicating it as a musical tone poem commemorating the thousands of victims of 9/11. I hope you will be able to join us. To be a Jew is an opportunity to share ... Read More

Our Back to Shul BBQ this past Sunday was jam packed as friends old and new got reacquainted. We had the opportunity to listen to some remarks by our president, Rich Meyer and Rabbi Posen. We also were moved by Cantor B's stirring rendition of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach's Return Again.

Let me first wish you all a sweet new year. I look forward to communicating with you in this space about matters large and small. I also invite you to let Marci Atkins know if there are particular topics you might be interested in hearing about. If it sparks something for me, we may address it here. This first "column" is a bit long, but I wanted to provide some background.