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 – Wednesday, July 13, 2022
This year, the 17th of Tammuz will be observed on Sunday, July 17. According to the tradition, this is the day that the walls of Jerusalem were breached, ushering in the Three Weeks of Affliction and leading up to Tisha B'Av. In preparation for this time, this week's Kavanot are reflections on hope, anxiety, and the challenges and opportunities of these summer days. With an 8-year-old book lover in the family, whose taste (unlike mine!) veers to fantasy, there is a fair amount of discussion about demons in our house. Lucky for me (or for him), there is also a lot of discussion about demons in the Talmud, so I can hold my own. Take, for example, this teaching from Tractate Pesachim, which should ostensibly be about Passover: From the first of Tammuz to the sixteenth of that month, these demons are certainly found. From here onward it is uncertain whether they are found or whether [...]
Daily Kavanah – Tuesday, July 12, 2022
This year, the 17th of Tammuz will be observed on Sunday, July 17. According to the tradition, this is the day that the walls of Jerusalem were breached, ushering in the Three Weeks of Affliction and leading up to Tisha B’Av. In preparation for this time, these are reflections on hope, anxiety, and the challenges and opportunities of these summer days. Here’s a fact I learned recently. Last Friday was a remarkable day, and not just because it was Shabbat. I learned that for a rare moment, at 7:15 a.m. EDT on July 8, 99% of the world's population was in the sun. That means that about 6.4 billion people were in the daytime, while more than 1.2 billion people experienced twilight. Here, again, we have a connection with the sun and Tammuz--in our own life and in our most ancient stories. In chapter 10 of the Book of Joshua, [...]
Daily Kavanah – Monday, July 11, 2022
This year, the 17th of Tammuz will be observed on Sunday, July 17. According to the tradition, this is the day that the walls of Jerusalem were breached, ushering in the Three Weeks of Affliction and leading up to Tisha B'Av. In preparation for this time, this week's Kavanot are reflections on hope, anxiety, and the challenges and opportunities of these summer days. In June of 2020, in the deep anxiety of the early days of the COVID shutdown and in the midst of massive protest sparked by the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Rabbi Elizabeth Bonney-Cohen taught on heat. She wrote: Tammuz is also the brightest month of the year. It comes as the first new moon after the summer solstice, and its long summer days also invite the warmest temperatures of the year. Certainly, we could note that—according to scientists and scientific evidence—summer in America is getting [...]
Daily Kavanah – Friday, July 8, 2022
I just arrived in Israel for a visit with my family after a three-year absence as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Perhaps even more than usual, it is a blessing to be here, in our homeland. On the long journey from Los Angeles, I read one of the most disturbing articles about Israel I’ve ever encountered (which is saying quite a lot, considering the tragic stories of terror and loss that are too often a part of the Israeli news cycle). The article describes an incident that occured last week at the Kotel, in the designated egalitarian worship space known as Ezrat Yisrael. Ezrat Yisrael is a section specifically set aside for families who wish to pray near the Kotel in an egalitarian setting. In this one place, in accordance with an agreement sanctioned by the Israeli government, both men and women can chant Torah, put on a tallit, and wear t’fillin. Parents, siblings, and grandparents of all genders [...]
Daily Kavanah – Thursday, July 7, 2022
As we continue to reflect on America’s history and her promise, we hope these words by 2021 Inaugural Poet Amanda Gorman inspire you towards a better tomorrow. In This Place (An American Lyric) by Amanda Gorman There’s a poem in this place— in the footfalls in the halls in the quiet beat of the seats. It is here, at the curtain of day, where America writes a lyric you must whisper to say. There’s a poem in this place— in the heavy grace, the lined face of this noble building, collections burned and reborn twice. There’s a poem in Boston’s Copley Square where protest chants tear through the air like sheets of rain, where love of the many swallows hatred of the few. There’s a poem in Charlottesville where tiki torches string a ring of flame tight round the wrist of night where men so white they gleam blue— seem [...]