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The Community Synagogue of Port Washington, New York, is a vibrant, caring and inclusive Reform congregation that inspires meaningful relationships with one another, the larger community and with God.
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Elijah: Why is He the One At the Seder?Eliyahu as the figure who makes the impossible, possible. The harbinger of the higher ethical standard. The one who will make us listen to each other and (re)build the world.
Not Published•Irwin Zeplowitz•10 Views•April 18, 2024•Passover,Messiah,Laws of the Passover Night Seder,Death of Elijah,Pesach,Havdalah,Zealotry,Elijah's Cup,Compassion,Eliyahu
Eclipses and Nisan: It's Always Darkest Before the DawnNot Published•Irwin Zeplowitz•587 Views•April 5, 2024•Red Sea,Good Acts,Blessings (Halakhah),Hope,Redemption,Science,Eclipse,Nisan,Crossing the SeaChanukkah in a Time of DangerNot Published•Irwin Zeplowitz•34 Views•December 9, 2023•Courage,Chanukkah,Antisemitism,Martyrdom,Maccabees,Life,Fear,Forgetting,Vayeshev,DangerEight Short Lessons of ChanukahEight brief - but powerful - lessons for Chanukah.
Destroying the Innocent with the WickedWhat is the balance between fighting terror and harming the innocent? Can there be (SHOULD there be) limits in how we engage in war? What are the Jewish and modern human rights limits in the conduct of war that balance ensuring security and not causing undue harm to innocents?
Sukkot: The Water/Rain FestivalNot Published•Irwin Zeplowitz•38 Views•September 29, 2023•Torah,Lulav,Water Libations,Four Species,Rain,Water,SukkotKindness versus Truth: How to Be Civil with Those We Think are Wrong?How do we balance being compassionate with being honest? How can (must?) kindness include a sense of honesty? Who models for us a way to offer rebuke in a loving and necessary way?
The Death of Miriam: What Grief Takes ... and Can GiveThe death of Miriam creates an emotional pain that challenges her siblings (Moses and Aaron) and all the people of Israel. How does this narrative help us confront the emotions of loss? What comforting lessons does this story provide?
Irwin Zeplowitz•89 Views•June 24, 2023•The Well,Mourning,Miriam,Anger,Grief,Miriam's Well,Hope,Parshat Chukkat
The Real Hero of the AkeidahWho is the most heroic figure of the "Akeidah" (the Binding of Isaac)? How are we meant to be like this character? What does it mean to truly hear the shofar? These sources play with the idea that the ram is the only character in the narrative who is not constrained by circumstances beyond its control - and truly chooses how to respond to the constraints of fate.
Irwin Zeplowitz•1903 Views•September 16, 2020•Pandemic,Free Will,Ram's Horn,Binding of Isaac,Choice,Akeidah
The Priestly Blessing: What Is The Blessing?Birkat Kohanim carries within it many meanings. What are the blessings - and how can they offer us a guide for a purpose driven life.
Lost and Found: Is Isolation a Gift or Danger?In this study we will look at a story of Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai from the Babylonian Talmud that grapples with the notion of isolation as a means of engaging in spiritual purity, particularly in the context of the Torah for this week that speaks of the isolation of the kohen (priest) as a prerequisite for serving God. Is isolation a blessing or danger? How can we use being alone as a means for positive change?
Irwin Zeplowitz•396 Views•May 8, 2020•Emor,Isolation,Covid-19,Shimon Bar Yochai,Coronavirus,Pandemic
Politics and Religion: The Revolutionary Messages of PassoverNot Published•Irwin Zeplowitz•54 Views•March 28, 2023•Seder,Moses,Five Rabbis at B'nai Brak,Passover,Haggadah,Politics,PesachPekudei: I Get Knocked Down, but I Get Up AgainNot Published•Irwin Zeplowitz•50 Views•March 17, 2023•Mishkan,Building,Pekudei,Memory,Deconstruction,Despair ,Redemption,Construction,Pesach,Hope,TabernacleIs Being a Stranger the Jewish NormIs Joseph an exemplar of the Jew who succeeds in exile, or a paradigm of a Jew always being the "stranger" or the "other"? Is Joseph an example of Jewish success in the world, or a reminder that the Jew is always the "other"?
Rivalry or Reconciliation: Jacob and EsauNot Published•Irwin Zeplowitz•89 Views•December 8, 2022•Blessings,Jacob and Esau,Forgiveness,Reconciliation,Sibling Rivalry,Peace,Birthright,VaYishlach,War,GuiltJacob's Struggle: Broken and WholeHow Jacob's struggle (with the angel? God? his conscience/guilt?) a metaphor for us in learning to live with life's brokenness and still be whole?
Irwin Zeplowitz•456 Views•November 19, 2021•Jacob,Disability,Wholeness,VaYishlach,Angel,Broken,Ark of the Covenent
Jacob and Esau - Competing or Complimentary Images of Jewish Identity?Are Esau and Jacob competing paradigms for the fullest expression of Jewish identity, or complementary? This sheet examines traditional contemporary Jewish approaches that focus on the tension and synergy between physicality and spirituality.
Irwin Zeplowitz•463 Views•November 5, 2021•Masculinity,Post-Zionism,Femininity,The Soul and the Body,Zionism,Jewish Identity
God Is In This PlaceWhere can God be found - when we are alone or with others? In a moment of exaltation or despair? Through reason or emotion? In a time of humility or greater consciousness? Or, maybe ... Jacob suggests the answer is to these questions is ... 'yes'!
Finding Joy Through the CracksHow is it that the rain that coming through the covering of the sukkah (the "cracks") teaches us how to find joy even through the disappointments, pain and harshness in life? What is joy - happiness, contentment or something else? And what are ways we can find joy each day?
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Irwin Zeplowitz
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claire franco
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