Leaders Who Serve
03/17/2025 12:42:05 PM
Rabbi Spike Anderson
When congregants share with me, usually in a whisper, that their favorite Friday night service each year is our Volunteer Shabbat, I feel a sense of joy.
Initially, perhaps, because I’m...Read more...
World Zionist Congress Elections are HERE!
03/07/2025 10:44:06 AM
Rabbi Rachael Miller
“What if I told you that you could do something simple that would have a significant impact on the future of the State of Israel and the Jewish people?
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Right Place : Right Time
03/03/2025 10:36:04 AM
Rabbi Max Miller
At one point or another in our lives, we’ve said or heard the phrase, “doing the right thing isn’t always the easy thing.” Often, teenagers will hear adults say, “Just because everyone is doing it, doesn’t make it right.” These are both ways of...Read more...
There's something about the red hair.
02/20/2025 10:37:16 AM
Rabbi Rachael Miller
There’s something about the red hair.
Their age and the red hair.
I remember the name of every kid I grew up with who had the same red hair.
I can tell you the...Read more...
We Will Dance Again
02/14/2025 02:22:41 PM
Rabbi Spike Anderson
I am really looking forward to this week’s Friday night Shabbat service at Temple Emanu-El, where we will integrate the Full Radius Dance, made up of both able-bodied dancers & dancers in wheelchairs, into our worship...Read more...
A Rising Tide…
02/07/2025 12:34:43 PM
Rabbi Spike Anderson
In our weekly Torah cycle, we are fast approaching the end of the plagues that brought us out of Egyptian slavery, and into the desert wilderness where we will create the Jewish civilization.
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If Only We Were Prophets
01/24/2025 01:56:27 PM
A lot has changed in the last week.
The first three hostages of the thirty-three set to be released in phase...Read more...
Where Do We Start?
01/17/2025 02:43:42 PM
Rabbi Max Miller
We live in a time of disorienting unpredictability. For the last ten days, we’ve been living on a deep inhale, holding our breath for what may be the return of some of those held captive in Gaza. To stretch the metaphor further, we’ve lived on very little...Read more...
Celebrate MLK Weekend at TE
01/09/2025 12:23:10 PM
Rabbi Spike Anderson
This Friday night, as our country enters into MLK weekend, we have a special Shabbat service at Temple Emanu-El to lift the connection between Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Civil Rights movement, and Judaism. The...Read more...
Who Sent Me Here?
01/03/2025 01:35:22 PM
Rabbi Spike Anderson
This week’s Torah portion is Vayigash from the book of Genesis, and it contains the climax of the Joseph saga. Remember, as a teenager, Joseph had been thrown into a pit, and then sold into slavery by his jealous...Read more...
TE wants to help you be prepared…
12/20/2024 09:22:15 AM
Rabbi Spike Anderson
One of the deepest honors that I have as a rabbi is to accompany congregants and their families in the final stages of life, and through our death and mourning rituals. I can not describe the quality of this type of...Read more...
The Story of Queen Judith Maccabee
12/20/2024 09:14:50 AM
Rabbi Max Miller
Many of us are familiar with the tale of Judah and his band of merry Maccabees: the group who repels the Assyrian Greek army from the Land of Israel and rededicates the Holy...Read more...
The Loss of Civility
12/16/2024 09:48:29 AM
Rabbi Rachael Miller
At its most basic understanding, civility is about politeness and courtesy. Incivility, or the loss of civility, implies a lack of manners, though it is usually used to cover...Read more...
The Light We Need
12/06/2024 11:45:13 AM
Rabbi Spike Anderson
Have you ever noticed that all of our Jewish holidays begin at night, and are welcomed by kindling candles?
The explanation for why the holy “day” begins at night comes...Read more...
The Real Story of Chanukah
12/02/2024 09:25:58 AM
Rabbi Max Miller
Today is the first day Kislev, the Hebrew month when we celebrate Chanukah. That means that there are only 25 days until the first night. When kids are little, we tell them a version of the Chanukah story that was written...Read more...
Thanksgiving Week
11/22/2024 12:01:51 PM
In our family, whether on Shabbat, for birthday celebrations, or secular holidays, we always begin our meal with the tzedakah box....Read more...
Uncommon Kindness
11/18/2024 09:38:39 AM
Rabbi Max Miller
We expect common courtesy as we go about our day: holding the door for someone, greeting a colleague with a hello, or asking about someone’s day. These little acts of kindness are important, but we would be hard-pressed to suggest that someone goes above and...Read more...
A Life of Service
11/11/2024 08:39:22 AM
Rabbi Max Miller
Today, we honor our veterans—our fellow citizens who answered the call of duty. These brave women and men have sacrificed years of their lives in service to our country. While the words “Thank you for your service” are appropriate, they don’t fully...Read more...
Suggestion for a fantastic book…
11/01/2024 02:43:17 PM
Rabbi Spike Anderson
Sometimes, congregants will ask their rabbis “what are you reading these days…and is it any good?” I’m always happy to share, and I’m also curious about what other people are reading that they love.
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The Gates Have Closed but the Doors are Open
10/28/2024 09:30:23 AM
As of Simchat Torah, the Gates of Repentance have officially closed, but the doors of the synagogue remain wide...Read more...
Marking Time
10/18/2024 11:52:11 AM
Our Rabbinic Sage by the memorable name of Ben Bag Bag, used to say, “Turn it, and turn it, for everything is therein.”* Meaning, “Study the Torah, then study it again, because we always have...Read more...
A Time to Hold Two Truths
10/11/2024 11:11:29 AM
By now, members of the Brotherhood have assembled Temple Emanu-El’s new sukkah Perhaps you, too, are in the process of assembling a sukkah for the holiday, eagerly awaiting the chance to welcome guests...Read more...
From Morning to Mourning
10/07/2024 10:32:43 AM
The morning of October 7th, 2023 was Simchat Torah. Now, the date and the holiday are forever linked to the massacre of Israelis who were waking up at Grandma’s house at the kibbutz, dancing through the dawn at Nova, or just starting their day with cereal and cartoons. One...Read more...
A Clean New Year
09/30/2024 09:44:49 AM
This past year has been like Groundhog Day, and we’re all Bill Murray reliving the same 24 hours over and again. I hope this Rosh HaShanah will be the beginning of a new day. The prayers of the High Holy Days call upon us to reflect on our past actions so that we can leave our...Read more...
Selichot Under The Stars!
09/19/2024 04:36:43 PM
Want to do something really cool…and meaningful?
Saturday night, September 28th, we are going to have our Selichot service outside, under the stars. Selichot is what I call ‘the...Read more...
All Dressed in White
09/13/2024 11:25:26 AM
Rabbi Rachael Miller
Imagine standing in a polyester robe from shoulders down to your ankles for hours on end. That used to be what Reform clergy did all of the time. Thankfully, this practice...Read more...
God as Ocean...or pond?
09/06/2024 12:15:01 PM
Rabbi Spike Anderson
One of the theological assumptions is that God is everywhere.
However, our rabbis saw in this statement an inherent contradiction. If God is everywhere, how can...Read more...
You, yes YOU +2
08/29/2024 09:04:44 AM
Rabbi Rachael Miller
My phone buzzes a lot during the day. One of the main sources of the buzzing are news alerts from Haaretz, Jerusalem Post, i24 News, and the Times of Israel. If I’m not in a...Read more...
The Jews of Sandy Springs
08/23/2024 10:15:40 AM
Rabbi Spike Anderson
For seven years now I have the honor of being one of the volunteer Chaplains for the Sandy Springs Police Department. It is a large department of over 150 officers, with only three being Jews; however, since Sandy...Read more...
Sat, September 27 2025
5 Tishrei 5786
