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Category: Services & Religion

Home Page Blog Feature, People of Shomrei, Services & Religion

Prayer Project: Tishrei 5786

Rabbi Julie met with congregants who heeded a call to discuss the Prayer for Israel, the Prayer for Our Country, and the Prayer for Peace that we as a congregation typically say during our High Holiday services. Everyone agreed that in the aftermath of October 7 in Israel and the rise of antisemitism in America we as a people are facing a dark time, but that’s all we agreed on. Otherwise, we were all over the map.

Given the range of feelings and opinions expressed in the meeting alone — with only a handful of congregants present — members of our community were invited to write their own prayers.

This is an ongoing project. Please send your prayers to:

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People of Shomrei, Services & Religion

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? (more…)

Services & Religion

Alternative Torah Reading

The traditional Torah reading for Yom Kippur Mincha is Leviticus 18, which lists forbidden sexual relations and activities. Mahzor Lev Shalem, as well as High Holy Day prayer books dating as far back as the 1950’s, offers as an alternative reading Leviticus 19: 1-18, the so-called Holiness Code. Some of you may recall that in the 1990’s, this was the reading we did for Yom Kippur Mincha. This year, Rabbi Julie, with the approval of the Ritual Committee, has decided that we will do the alternative reading. It was felt that the Shomrei Emunah community should be made aware of this well in advance of Yom Kippur in order to understand the rationale behind the decision.

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People of Shomrei, Services & Religion

Starting the Journey: Reflections on Torah Study for Parashot Noah and Lech L’cha

Rabbi Julie began Torah Study last Thursday (Oct 27) with a question – To what extent are we pursuing our own journey or continuing our parents’ journey?

Parshat Lech L’cha begins with God telling Abraham (Abram as he was then called) to start on a journey “to the land that I will show you (Genesis 12:1)”. Abram then gathers together his people and possessions and sets out for Canaan. This is, of course, a huge deal; but is it actually a break with the past?

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