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 – Friday, November 25, 2022
The Injustice of Thanksgiving If you’ve kept up with the headlines this week, you might be tempted to question life’s fairness: a shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, terror attacks in Jerusalem, a mass-shooting at a Walmart in Virginia, ongoing bloodshed in Ukraine, antisemitism on the rise. On any week these events would be cause for despair, but how are we to make sense of them at this time of giving thanks in particular? Our sages and teachers can help us to achieve a greater sense of perspective at moments like these. Rabbi Eugene Borowitz, of blessed memory, was one of the leading theologians of the past fifty years. I was lucky enough to be his student at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion where he taught for almost five decades. In his great work of Jewish theology Renewing the Covenant, Rabbi Borowitz teaches that often in [...]
Daily Kavanah – Thursday, November 24, 2022: Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving! This week's Daily Kavanot have focused upon Jewish themes of gratitude that may help inform the contemporary Thanksgiving celebration. In an old Jewish tale, a farmer, weary of a home he deems too small for his family, turns to his rabbi, who instructs him to solve his lack of space by bringing his chickens indoors. After the farmer does as instructed, even more exasperated than when he began, he returns to the rabbi, who then instructs him to bring his sheep indoors. This process is repeated over and over again until, eventually, all the farmer's livestock lives inside the house. That's when the rabbi tells the farmer to begin moving his livestock outdoors, one by one, until the farmer, with only his family inside his home, breathes a sigh of relief and thanks the rabbi for her help. This classic Jewish story instills the pursuit of gratitude with [...]
Daily Kavanah – Wednesday, November 23, 2022
With Thanksgiving approaching, this week’s Daily Kavanot will focus upon Jewish themes of gratitude that may help inform the contemporary Thanksgiving celebration. Ben Zoma used to say, "A good guest says, 'How hard has my host worked for me! He put so much meat in front of me … so much wine, so much bread … all his work was just for me.' Meanwhile, a bad guest says, 'What did my host do for me? I ate just one roll, one slice of meat, and one cup of wine. All his work was for his own family!'" When Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the first national festival of Thanksgiving in 1863, the Civil War was already two years old. With few meaningful victories to its credit—other than the Battle of Gettysburg, which only repelled invading rebel forces—the Union had little to show for two years of brutal conflict. One could forgive [...]
Daily Kavanah – Tuesday, November 22, 2022
With Thanksgiving approaching, this week’s Daily Kavanot will focus upon Jewish themes of gratitude that may help inform the contemporary Thanksgiving celebration. "Blessed is the Divine who fashioned humanity in wisdom, creating its pathways so intricately that should one of them fail, we could not stand before Your throne of glory." —Asher Yatzar prayer, Shaharit (morning) service Although Thanksgiving originates from the feast shared between the Puritans and the Wampanoag in 1621, Thanksgiving did not become a national festival until 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln, following years of lobbying by writer and magazine editor Sarah Hale, issued a proclamation establishing the last Thursday of November as a national day of thanksgiving. Hale hoped that gratitude could serve as a unifying force among members of the Union, some of whom had become discouraged by two years of Civil War. She wrote: "Everything that contributes to bind us in one vast empire together, to [...]
Daily Kavanah – Monday, November 21, 2022
Clergy Response to Shooting at Club Q We are horrified by the news of the shooting over the weekend at Club Q, an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs. Once again, bigotry and hated combined with easy access to military grade weapons (authorities report that the attacker used an AR-15 style rifle) has resulted in the deaths of 5 innocent people, injuries to a dozen more, and lasting trauma for an entire community. We deplore the culture of mass shootings that has normalized this type of terrible violence in our society. Tragically, the United States continues to lead the developed world in the heart-breaking statistic of homicide by firearm. We reaffirm our dedication to LGBTQ+ inclusion in our Stephen Wise Temple and Schools community and beyond and long for the day when no one will be ostracized, hated, or targeted on account of gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, religion, or creed. [...]