Blog
Writings, sermons, memories, thoughts...
A new Modim
I always enjoy composing when the inspiration hits. Being invited to compose in honor of someone is truly inspiring.
Dear Reince Priebus…
We are sisters and brothers in the human family
No matter whom we love
Or how we love
You are hurting your family
Stop it.
A wonderful tribute
My congregation, Temple Israel of New Rochelle, just honored me at their annual gala fundraiser for ten years of service. It was a really lovely evening.
Get a free piece of music!
I recently composed a setting of V’sham’ru for my congregation. It’s a call and response and you can have your community singing it without much teaching at all! And I want to share it with you for free!
Counting the Omer for 2012
For the past few years, we’ve reclaimed the tradition of counting the Omer at our Temple. I like it because of the anticipation of counting up (not down!) to Shavuot, the anniversary of the receiving of the Torah, and celebrating our Confirmation students.
Sholem Aleichem dir, Amerike!
I'm really looking forward to singing with the Jewish People's Philharmonic Chorus in their production of Sholem Aleichem dir, Amerike! The 1956 Birnbaum/Rauch operetta, is based on Sholom Aleichem's Motl, Peyse dem khazns ("Motl, Peyse the Cantors' Son"), and was...
Hazzanut and Jazz with the Afro-Semitic Experience
For those of you who missed the concert, please watch the highlights! More video to come! [youtubegallery] Highlights from the Afro-Semitic Experience|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gstS7Xn11ZA Shomeir Yisrael|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp0fuDFd5wc...
I’m dreaming of a white… Hanukkah?
One of the most famous of Christmas songs is by a Jewish composer: Irving Berlin. I don't care what face tradition you grew up with; White Christmas is a terrific song and it makes me think of the season. But where are all the great Hanukkah songs? Where is the Jewish...
Finding an "ultimate meaningful existence"
Rabbi Alvin Reines, professor of philosophy at the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio from 1958 until his death in 2004, taught that religion exists because we realize that we are each destined to die. Because our life is finite, with a beginning and an end, we...
Finalitly of Judgment
On September 21, 2011, at 10:53 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Troy Davis was executed by the state of Georgia. He was tried and convicted for the assault of two men and the murder of a third, a police officer, in Savannah, Georgia in August of 1989. As with other...
Slow to Anger
God passed by before [Moses] and proclaimed, “The Eternal God, the Eternal God, omnipotent, merciful and kind, slow to anger, with tremendous love and truth. Who remembers deeds of love for thousands [of generations], forgiving sin, rebellion and error. Who does not...
My Sabbatical Year (a sermon for Shabbat Shuva)
“You compose because you want to somehow summarize in some permanent form your most basic feelings about being alive, to set down… some sort of permanent statement about the way it feels to live now, today.” –Aaron Copland
Finding Freedom
One of my favorite movies of all time is "The Matrix." It is a story of a dystopian future in which humanity has been taken over by computers. The catch is that the humans are completely unaware of their captivity. People’s brains are all plugged into a vast computer...
Shabbat Shirah 2010
The Psalmist wrote: "Shiru Ladonai Shir Khadash."—“Sing unto God a New Song.” This evening, we have experienced new songs and new expressions to words we say week in and week out. We change the music of our prayers not because the words of our prayerbook change. It is...
The Entrance of Elul
I love the sound of cicadas in the summer. It is the tell-tale sign that it’s August. The cicada’s song is a mating call, but doesn’t sound that romantic to the human ear. If anything, it can be described, according to entomologist Gaye Williams, as “a million baby...
A Covenant of Salt (a sermon for Parshat Korakh)
I hate restrictive diets, don't you? I’ve been on my fair share of them: No sugar, no flour, no yeast, no dairy. No fun! Sometimes it’s necessary due to some health concern, sometimes for losing weight, but when I limit the variety of food in my daily routine, I get a...
Baking Bread–a sermon for Rosh Hashanah
Last night, Jews around the world, like many of us, gathered in homes for a festive New Year meal. Tables resplendent with tzimmes and kugel, brisket and chicken, wine and candles were adorned with white tablecloths, fine silverware, and surrounded by family and...
Shema Yisrael
The following story was relayed to me by Ann Kibbel Schwartz, an educator with whom I worked in Omaha, Nebraska: So a young student of mine was asked to rise and recite the “Shema” in English. The youngster rose and proudly said: “Hear O Israel; The Lord is our God....