Daily Kavanot
Writings of reflection by the Stephen Wise Temple clergy.
Each weekday morning, members of our mailing list receive the “Daily Kavanah,” which includes messages of thought, inspiration, and contemplation from our clergy, along with a schedule of events. Every Thursday, the “Daily Kavanah” turns into “Eyes on Wise,” our weekly newsletter featuring the latest news, photos, videos, stories, and tikkun olam opportunities from our community. Sign up and don’t miss out!
Daily Kavanah – Tuesday, April 11, 2023
Our Daily Kavanot during Passover will feature pieces from our Wise Passover Haggadah Supplement. Each day, our clergy will focus on a different element of the Passover holiday. The Song of Solomon By Rabbi Sari Laufer Just a few weeks ago, my 9-year-old asked me the question which every musical theater-loving parent awaits: "Mommy," he said from the back seat, "how many minutes are there in a year?" Having prepared for this moment since the premiere of "Rent" in 1996, I loudly responded in song: "525,600 minutes," while immediately hitting play on the original cast recording. In the anthemic song, a paean to a departed friend, Jonathan Larson asks: In five hundred, twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes How do you measure a year in a life? And while this might, perhaps, seem more appropriate as a Rosh Hashanah teaching, I want to offer it today, during Passover, during these days known as chol [...]
Daily Kavanah – Wednesday, April 12, 2023
Our Daily Kavanot during Passover will feature pieces from our Wise Passover Haggadah Supplement. Each day, our clergy will focus on a different element of the Passover holiday. Resetting Without Rigor By Cantor Emma Lutz וַיַּעֲבִ֧דוּ מִצְרַ֛יִם אֶת־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל בְּפָֽרֶךְ׃ וַיְמָרְר֨וּ אֶת־חַיֵּיהֶ֜ם בַּעֲבֹדָ֣ה קָשָׁ֗ה בְּחֹ֙מֶר֙ וּבִלְבֵנִ֔ים וּבְכׇל־עֲבֹדָ֖ה בַּשָּׂדֶ֑ה אֵ֚ת כׇּל־עֲבֹ֣דָתָ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־עָבְד֥וּ בָהֶ֖ם בְּפָֽרֶךְ׃ And the Egyptians imposed upon the children of Israel with rigor the various labors they made them perform. In mortar and brick, in all manner of work in the field, in all their work they forced them to serve with rigor. —Exodus 1:13-14 Nothing in our Torah is there by mistake. Whether you believe that the text was given by God, Divinely inspired, and/or woven together by the clever hands and minds of our ancestors, every canonized word has its purpose in the sacred story of our people. In these early verses from Exodus, we read [...]
Daily Kavanah – Monday, April 10, 2023
Our Daily Kavanot during Passover will feature pieces from our Wise Passover Haggadah Supplement. Each day, our clergy will focus on a different element of the Passover holiday. Rebirth, Hope, and Natan Sharansky By Rabbi David Woznica Today we observe the fourth day of Passover, a holiday Jews have observed for thousands of years. There may be no holiday in history that has been commemorated for as long as Passover. It is the most widely celebrated Jewish holiday. The Haggadah has been reprinted more than any Jewish book. Passover is z’man heyruteinu, "the season of our freedom." It was a moment of the rebirth of our people, and it gave rise to the belief that tomorrow can be better than today. It was, in some ways, the beginning of hope. Yet, since the moment of the Exodus, our people have not always been free: Certainly not free to live as Jews. [...]
Daily Kavanah – Shabbat Message from Rabbi Ron Stern – Friday, April 7, 2023
Our Daily Kavanot during Passover will feature pieces from our Wise Passover Haggadah Supplement. Each day, our clergy will focus on a different element of the Passover holiday. Passover and Israel By Rabbi Ron Stern Archeologists and Biblical scholars tell us that, despite what the Bible says, the observance of Passover actually began in the land of Israel, not during the Sinai wandering. It was originally two proximate holidays—one for farmers and one for shepherds. Pesach is actually the word for the lamb once sacrificed on a one-day sacrificial holiday. Chag HaMatzot—which began the day after the sacrifice—was for farmers, as it involved the special, sacred, unleavened bread that was prepared for its own seven-day holiday. For the farmers and shepherds, these observances were believed to be integral for ensuring the productivity of the herds and crops. As the ancient Israelite nation expanded and became more and more established [...]
Daily Kavanah – Thursday, April 6, 2023
Our Daily Kavanot during Passover will feature pieces from our Wise Passover Haggadah Supplement. Each day, our clergy will focus on a different element of the Passover holiday. Lamentation and Deliverance By Rabbi Josh Knobel Although many of the most memorable moments from the Exodus narrative come from the miraculous feats performed by God on behalf of the Israelites, the deliverance of Israel begins not with Divine deeds, but with perhaps the most human act of all: "And God said [to Moses], 'I have marked well the plight of My people in Egypt and have heard their outcry because of their taskmasters; yes, I am mindful of their sufferings. I have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians and to bring them out of that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.'" (Exodus 3:7-8) According to God, who reveals the Divine [...]