Rabbi Jaech's Blog

“I can’t talk with my adult kids about what’s happening in Israel and Gaza. We will just end up in a fight.” 

“I was afraid to ask my cousin what she thinks about the war. This topic can be so polarizing.”

“I worry about what will happen when we get together for the upcoming seder. I don’t know if we will be able to avoid the subject altogether.” 

Do these fears sound familiar?   I hear...Read more...

This past Friday evening, five outstanding high school seniors celebrated their confirmation at Temple Israel.  As part of the ceremony, they each offered a personal statement that reflected their thoughts about their Jewish identity. I am inspired by what they wrote.  Their words offer us a glimpse of our Jewish future and give us every reason to face that future with hope. 

 Rachel Cofsky

Being...Read more...

The lights of Hanukkah are beautiful. Yet they are more than a festive adornment for the holiday. Our tradition considers the lights of Hanukkah to be holy.  As such, they are not to be used for an ordinary purpose, such as a source of light for reading a book or doing a crossword puzzle.

One of my teachers, Rabbi Larry Hoffman, wrote of the Hanukkah lights, “their inherent...Read more...

For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, many people decided to travel on vacation this summer.

I like to travel, but I hate to pack.  Putting stuff in suitcases is the easy part.  Having to decide what I should pack is considerably more difficult.

I have read that most people tend to over-pack for their travels. How...Read more...

My message from last Shabbat evening, January 21, 2022.

“Are you seeing what is going on in Colleyville?” 

I was out for a walk last Shabbat afternoon when I read that text message from a friend.  I did not know what it meant.  Frankly, I had never heard of Colleyville. 

Once back home, I caught up with the unfolding horrific event. 

A rabbi and three of his congregants were held...Read more...

Words offered at Shabbat Services on August 20

I have just returned from my summer sabbatical, a time in which I seek renewal and inspiration for the year ahead.

This year, I found some inspiration in a surprising place: on my ride to the airport.   A friendly, chatty Lyft driver drove us to JFK. As he drove, he told us a little bit about why he worked as a Lyft driver.

Read more...

Newly ordained as a rabbi, the first wedding I officiated was on the island of Maui.  The couple planned their ceremony in a location that rarely received significant rainfall.   Yet on the day of the wedding – it rained! The wedding had to be moved inside.  Everyone was upset. 

Sensing the tension, my husband David encouraged me to begin the ceremony with a joke:
“A rabbi arrived for an elaborate outdoor...Read more...

Thank you to Carolyn Kunin for providing the content for this post.

RAC-NY, the Reform Movement’s New York State social justice advocacy group, in which TINW is active, is embarking on a campaign to reform the state’s current parole system, which re-incarcerates people for minor, technical parole violations.  Our state imprisons 7,500 individuals per year for violations such as missing an appointment, staying out beyond a...Read more...

Every year I travel with teens in our confirmation class to Washington D.C.  The halls of the Capitol Building and the office buildings for the Senate and the House are familiar to me.  Each year, as I watch our teens meet with congressional officials, I am heartened by the fact that we live in a democracy in which citizens can make appointments with their elected representatives and advocate for the issues which they hold...Read more...

These days we are all too familiar with fear. Besides the fears that this pandemic stirs in us, I have heard many people express fear about the upcoming election.

Some people fear what will happen if the candidate they support does not win. Some fear that the election will be “stolen” by the other side. And some fear that there will be violence in the wake of this...Read more...

Several months ago, while walking on a raw, gray afternoon, I passed by an old house with the porch light on.  Perhaps it was the weather, or my own dampened mood, but the sight of a porch light on in the middle of the day made me feel sad.

As I walked, I wondered what made me so sad about seeing a porch light on in the middle of the day.  Of course, the house could have...Read more...

In the early days of the pandemic, grocery store shelves had empty spaces and rumors of ongoing food shortages abounded. We were also cautioned to limit our trips to the grocery store. So I resolved to keep my freezer stocked with essentials and my refrigerator full of food. I was grateful that I could afford to do so.

Earlier this month, on the third day after Hurricane Isaias, I...Read more...

The other day I walked along the Peekskill waterfront, sweating under my face mask. A young woman jogged past me. She was about two feet away, breathing heavily. She was not wearing a mask.

The sight startled me, though it probably shouldn’t have. This mask-less runner was not an anomaly.

I have heard similar experiences from others. Many of us have seen the footage and the photos of crowded beaches and pools, informal...Read more...

Copy from D'var Torah 6/19/20  

Today is my father’s Yahrzeit. He died when he was the age I now am; I, his first born am the first of a generation born in the United States. My father was born and raised in North Africa, the son of Sephardic Jews from Turkey and Greece. He went as a young man to Palestine and to the birth of the State of Israel. A man of words, he was fluent in 7 languages, and a student of history,...Read more...

For weeks we have been following health protocols at Temple Israel to minimize the risk that the coronavirus poses to our sacred community. We followed the guidelines as they were released:  providing hand sanitizing stations around the building, disinfecting surfaces, and social distancing.  

Then we had to close our building for most of our activities.  We conducted services streamed from an empty...Read more...