Rabbi Chessin’s Monthly Column
Hanukkah a Time to Spread Light
Hanukkah a Time to Spread LightBy Rabbi Judy Chessin On Hanukkah 1932, Rachel Posner, wife of Rabbi Dr. Akiva Posner, took this iconic photo of the family Hanukkah menorah in the window of the family home across the street from a building displaying a Nazi flag. On the back of the photograph, Rachel Posner wrote […]
Lasting Interfaith Event a True Blessing
Lasting Interfaith Event a True BlessingBy Rabbi Judy Chessin This year marks our 30th Annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service, a three-decade partnership among Christ United Methodist Church, David’s United Church of Christ, St. Charles of Borromeo Church, and Temple Beth Or. How did this practice begin? In our early years, new members Steve and Areve Alexander came […]
Columbus’ Story has Some Jewish Roots
Every American school child knows the famous couplet: “In fourteen hundred ninety-two; Columbus sailed the ocean blue”– commemorating the explorer’s arrival in the New World on October 12, 1492. While Columbus Day is a federal holiday (observed the second Monday in October), not everyone is celebrating. Native American groups have long argued that the Italian […]
Search for the Light of God’s Presence
On the last day of the Hebrew month, Av, known as Yom Kippur Katan, “the small day of repentance,” we witnessed a rare astral phenomenon: a total solar eclipse. On August 21, just a few hours after the eclipse, the sunset ushered in the Hebrew month of Elul, the 40-day period of repentance which culminates […]
Human Connections Balance Busyness
Ask folks “How are you?” and, if pressed to elaborate on “fine,” they will give you a harried description of just how busy and stressed they are. Our society is overwhelmed with a sense of “busyness” and it is not just adults. Try scheduling a play date for your child and you will have to […]
Searching for a Real Jewish Princess
January 1, 2018
Searching for a Real Jewish PrincessBy Rabbi Judy Chessin The Jewish world kvelled for one brief shining moment when Prince Harry, the youngest son of Prince Charles and Princess Diana and fifth in line for the British throne, announced his engagement to the American actress Meghan Markle. It was reported that Markle, known for her work on […]