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, January 5, 2022
Happy 2022! As we enter a new month and a new secular year this week, let’s take a look at some of the more “popular” New Year’s Resolutions….and see what our tradition might have to teach us. Learn a new skill or hobby. To be clear, our Sages do not have a lot to say about hobbies. For them, any free moment not engaged in the study of sacred text is a moment wasted. But, they are clear about how to get started with at least that. Or, to be more precise, they are very clear about how not to get started. In Pirkei Avot 2:5, we read: :וְאַל תֹּאמַר לִכְשֶׁאִפָּנֶה אֶשְׁנֶה, שֶׁמָּא לֹא תִפָּנֶה Say not: ‘when I shall have leisure I shall study;’ perhaps you will not have leisure. Perhaps you have a bucket list or a someday list. Maybe you want to learn French, or try skydiving, or commit [...]
Daily Kavanah – Tuesday, January 4, 2022
Happy 2022! As we enter a new month and a new secular year this week, let’s take a look at some of the more “popular” New Year’s Resolutions….and see what our tradition might have to teach us. Get organized. As our kids are heading back to school (on Zoom and in person), and we are heading back to work and routines, perhaps we are thinking about how to manage it all—the schedules, the driving, the paper, the endless to-do lists, the laundry, the general “clutter” of life. If I truly had the answers, I’d be on the lecture circuit; I’d have a podcast, a planner—a whole brand. Instead, I am a constant work in progress—buying new planners and listening to podcasts just like some of you. But I cannot help but think about our Jewish calendar, and the rhythms of Shabbat, as a guide to our weekly lives…and perhaps, a clue towards [...]
Daily Kavanah – Monday, January 3, 2022
Happy 2022! As we enter a new month and a new secular year this week, let’s take a look at some of the more “popular” New Year’s Resolutions….and see what our tradition might have to teach us. Exercise more/Lose weight. It might surprise you to learn that the Shulchan Aruch, the seminal code of Jewish law (compiled by Joseph Caro in the 16th Century), seems to open with an exercise routine. יתגבר כארי לעמוד בבוקר One should strengthen like a lion to get up in the morning to serve their Creator…. Now, I love lions…but like most cats, they seem to spend a lot of time sleeping. So, what are we to learn about exercise, our bodies, and motivation from this text? Maybe, as one commentary suggests, that lions, by their nature, would rather sleep—but they know that they must rouse themselves as a matter of survival. For us, comfy in [...]
Daily Kavanah – Friday, December 31, 2021
“Say, therefore, to the Israelite people: I am the ETERNAL. I will save you from the labors of the Egyptians and free you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and through extraordinary chastisements. And I will take you to be My people, and I will be your God. And you shall know that I, the ETERNAL, am your God who freed you from the labors of the Egyptians.” — Exodus 6:6-7 These verses from this week’s Torah portion include four promises that our Torah tells us God made to our ancestors. Having taken note of our suffering at the hands of our Egyptian oppressors, God promises to save us, free us, redeem us, and take us to be God’s special people. Centuries later, the rabbis who created the Passover Seder instructed participants to drink one cup of wine corresponding to each of the four promises. Since wine has long been a symbol [...]
Daily Kavanah – Thursday, December 30, 2021
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” — Emma Lazarus, The New Colossus, 1883. This week’s Torah portion, Parashat Va-eira, opens with God’s promise of Divine redemption for God’s people, b’nai Yisrael—the Israelites—through miraculous marvels, namely the ten plagues upon Egypt. Throughout the saga of the plagues, however, Moses never refers to God as Elohai Yisrael—the God of Israel, but rather, as Elohai ha’Ivrim—the God of the Hebrews. In fact, other than references to the plagues not affecting the Israelites in the same fashion as the Egyptians,* the name, Israel, disappears from the Biblical narrative for all four chapters discussing the plagues. Who are the Hebrews, and why the sudden shift in terminology? Clearly, as far as the Exodus narrative is concerned, Hebrew is synonymous with Israelite, but the usage of the term Hebrew elsewhere in the Biblical text suggests that the two may not be fully equivalent. First [...]