by Cindy Warren | Oct 11, 2018 | Blog, Messages from the Head of School
Life has returned to normal, and this can be of some concern. With the end of the Jewish holiday season, topped off this year by Thanksgiving, the series of feasts and fasts, celebrations and commemorations has finally finished. Gone are the three-day and four-day...
by Cindy Warren | Oct 4, 2018 | Blog, Messages from the Head of School
The story of the Garden of Eden, which we read this week in synagogue, certainly ends badly. The first man and woman disobey the one command of their Creator and are exiled forever from paradise. For millennia, Jewish (and Christian) commentators have looked to the...
by Cindy Warren | Sep 27, 2018 | Blog, Messages from the Head of School
The happiness of Sukkot, about which I wrote last week, culminates in the holiday of Simchat Torah that we will celebrate next Tuesday. The name of the holiday is usually rendered into English as “The Holiday of Rejoicing with the Torah,” but its literal meaning “The...
by Cindy Warren | Sep 20, 2018 | Blog, Messages from the Head of School
The holiday of Sukkot, which we celebrate next week, is unique in that it is the only holiday specifically associated with joy. While nearly all Jewish holidays have an element of joy associated with them (even Yom Kippur!), it is only Sukkot that is singled out by...
by Cindy Warren | Sep 13, 2018 | Blog, Messages from the Head of School
The Road to Repentance Starts at School Rabbi Eric Grossman Head of School, Akiva School Excerpt from the Congregation Beth Israel Beth Aaron High Holiday Magazine, September 2018 Maimonides divided his Laws of Repentance into precisely ten chapters, perfectly...