From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life

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**From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life**

Bringing weekly Jewish insights into your life. Join Rabbi Wes Gardenswartz, Rabbi Michelle Robinson and Rav-Hazzan Aliza Berger of Temple Emanuel in Newton, MA as they share modern ancient wisdom.

Latest Episodes:

Talmud Class: Dancing on My Own - The Power of Our Vulnerability Jan 08, 2022

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January 8, 2022

Shabbat Sermon: Higher Resolution with Rav Hazzan Aliza Berger Jan 01, 2022

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In 1949, David Schacker’s life was radically transformed. Up until that point, he had been a healthy, bright-eyed, 10-year-old boy who loved running and playing tennis. He had the kind of raw talent that promised opportunity. Everyone knew he would get an athletic scholarship somewhere fabulous and looked forward to watching him succeed.

But that dream was not to be. At ten, Schacker was diagnosed with Polio. Instead of running outside and playing tennis, he spent the year cooped up in St Giles hospital in physiotherapy and treatment.

Shabbat Sermon: Our Heart’s Burning Bush with Rabbi Michelle Robinson Dec 25, 2021

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Please enjoy this Shabbat Sermon with our wonderful Rabbi Michelle Robinson!

Shabbat Sermon: Joyfully Wrong with Rabbi Wes Gardenswartz Dec 18, 2021

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Adam Grant, the teacher of organizational psychology at Penn, a noted Ted Talk speaker, and the author of best-selling books, was recently on NPR sharing two very different takes on the phenomenon of being wrong.

The first take concerned Adam himself when he was a teen-ager. He and a friend disagreed about a particular song in a Broadway musical. Each thought he was right. Eventually his friend summoned proof that he, the friend, was right. Adam was wrong. Adam could see the proof. Knew the proof was irrefutable. But could not get himself to acknowledge the error of his ways. His friend said: Adam, admit you are wrong. Adam could not bring himself to do it.

Hanukkah Happens Interview with Cantor Elias Rosemberg and Josh Jacobson Dec 16, 2021

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Join Cantor Elias Rosemberg and Josh Jacobson as they discuss what you can expect at this year's Hanukkah Happens concert on Thursday, December 23rd, 2021.

Shabbat Sermon: More Peace with Rabbi Michelle Robinson Dec 11, 2021

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The classic comedy “Miss Congeniality” has a montage of beauty pageant contestants, one after the other, answering the question, “What is the one most important thing our society needs?” They all give the same answer: “World peace.” It is a long-running joke – that the notion young beauty queens can have anything to do with resolving long-standing geopolitical tensions is naïve, even slightly offensive. Enter this year’s Miss Universe.

If you have been following the news this week, you may have heard that Israel is hosting this year’s Miss Universe competition.

Of course, in the shadow of the unassailably ugly underbelly of antisemitism that Dara Horn captures so vividly in her book, “People Love Dead Jews,” greater than average controversy was expected – and delivered.

Talmud Class: The Poet of Ambivalence - Stephen Sondheim's Finishing the Hat Dec 11, 2021

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December 11, 2021

Shabbat Sermon: Finding Great-Grandma Becky with Rav Hazzan Aliza Berger Dec 04, 2021

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At the beginning of Thanksgiving, my dad and I spent hours combing through genealogical records, trying to find his grandmother. During the pandemic, I read Dani Shapiro’s book The Inheritance and had opened a subscription on MyHeritage.com trying to uncover my own family history.

My dad remembered that he called his dad’s parents Grandpa Loui and Grandma Becky. But he didn’t remember his grandmother’s maiden name or where she was from. He told me that when they visited, they always showed up without announcing themselves and his grandma would prepare more food than anyone could eat in a week. But strangely, you can’t search for a Grandma Becky who cooks too much and sometimes shouts in Yiddish on MyHeritage.com. I found countless Grandma Becky’s in countless historical records but couldn’t find enough information to claim any one of them as my own.

Talmud Class: Reading Maoz Tzur Through the Lens of People Love Dead Jews Dec 04, 2021

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December 4, 2021

Shabbat Sermon: What If This Is All There Is? with Rabbi Wes Gardenswartz Nov 27, 2021

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It was only 17 years ago, but it feels like forever ago. It feels like it was a different century when, in 2004, David Brooks wrote a book about America called On Paradise Drive: How We Live Now (And Always Have) in the Future Tense. His main point was that Americans lived in the future tense, by which he meant that whatever problems we faced in the present moment were not really problems because we imagined a future that would be so much better.

Our house is too small, but no matter. One fine day we will live in a big and spacious house.

Our income is too small, but one fine day we will have a better job which will generate all the resources we need for the life we want to lead.

My health is challenged now, but one fine day I will find the doctor and get the treatment that will have me feeling better than ever.

Our children have not yet found themselves, but in the future they will be living just the happy life they dream of living.

The key to living in the future tense is this limitless sense of optimism that the future will be better than the past.

Most of us do not believe that today if we ever did. Most of us ask a different question. What if this is all there is? What if this is it? What if there is no one fine day? What if the present moment is all we’ve got?

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