10/02/2018 10:18:50 PM
My name is Monica Garcia Norlander. My Hebrew name is Chaya Ora, which means Life and Light. I am proud to stand here today as an alumna of the West Suburban Temple Har Zion class titled, “Introduction to Judaism.” In the class, I learned a solid foundation of Jewish knowledge, I joined a community of other learners, I cemented my decision to raise a child with Jewish values, and I grew on my personal journey.
In...Read more...
Shabbat Noach 5778 – ‘The Human Gift for Unity’
10/30/2017 04:54:22 PM
Shabbat Noach 5778 – ‘The Human Gift for Unity’
Hineh ma tovu u manim shevet achim gam yachad
How good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters sit together in...Read more...
Yom Kippur sermon 5778/2017, ‘Maurice Sendak and living the life we are meant to.’
10/08/2017 10:38:08 PM
Good Yontif, Shanah Tovah,
Ma Anu, Umeh’Chayenu
What are we and what is our life?
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Kol Nidre Sermon 5778/ 2017, ‘Love your Story.’
10/08/2017 12:36:15 PM
Good Yontif,
I was once at La Guardia airport in New York, and there was a man walking from person to person, looking...Read more...
In response to Charlottesville and Barcelona, "We are God’s partners in repairing the world."
08/19/2017 10:46:21 AM
Shabbat shalom,
What a week! Charlottesville last weekend, Barcelona on Thursday… How do we respond to all of this?
There is a story that Rabbi Akiva, the leader of his generation, was once summoned by the Roman governor, Rufus. The governor asked him, why do you Jews circumcise your males? Is God’s creation not perfect?
Rabbi Akiva showed the governor, in one hand flax, in the other a garment. He asked, ‘which...Read more...
Melton Jewish Learning Comes to West Suburban Har Zion
08/07/2017 03:18:07 PM
Darkness (Bo 5777)
02/15/2017 04:43:19 PM
When I was young and lived in the Old City in Jerusalem, our family was in a big apartment. My room was across what seemed like an impossibly long and dark hallway to the kitchen, where I imagined my parents always were. I don’t remember much else about the apartment but I remember the hallway as a frightening place…
In our parashah this week, Bo, the Torah recounts to us the final intensification of the plagues. Finally, Pharaoh...Read more...
“How Good and Pleasant It is for Brethren to Dwell Together in Unity” (Toldot 5777)
01/19/2017 04:12:35 PM
“Coping with the State of the World” (Rosh Hashanah 5777)
01/19/2017 04:10:08 PM
“Religion is about walking” (Bechukotai 5776)
01/19/2017 04:09:18 PM
When I was young, the most powerful religious memories for me were of our Friday night ritual before dinner. Of the singing we did. Of the special feeling, the holiness of Shabbat, that we created. We had our own way of doing it in our house. And I was convinced it was the very best and only way of doing it. I still am.
For many people, this is what religion is about. A collection of memory, song, feeling, nostalgia, of the way...Read more...
