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 – Monday, July 12, 2021
In celebration of my twentieth year at Wise, it was my wish that we would provide a means to support our young adults who seek to devote a few months or a year to meaningful efforts to mend our world. With the generous donations of many, we established the Wise Tikkun Olam Leadership Scholarship. Our first young adult scholarship went to Ava Zeidler, a long-time Wise member, graduate of our Religious School, teaching assistant, and an important member of our Wise Camp staff for years. Ava requested the scholarship for her to participate in the Young Judaea Year Course in Israel and volunteer in service to the country. This week’s kavanot will feature Ava’s account of her experience in Israel and her reflection on the impact it had on her life. If you know of a high school graduate (and older) wishing to devote significant time to community service who would benefit from [...]
Daily Kavanah – Friday, July 9, 2021
As the sun sets this evening, we enter Av, the saddest month of the Jewish year. The first days of Av are the heaviest leading up to the 9th of the month, the day on which, according to tradition, both the First and Second Temples were destroyed. It’s a time of collective mourning, a time when—strangely—we lament the loss of something we never personally really had. The Second Temple was destroyed almost two thousand years ago. This time of communal mourning is an invitation to feel more deeply what it means to be part of a tribe, a mishpacha (family), a People that shares triumphs and tribulations not just across space but across time as well. We are connected to other Jews across oceans and continents and across the centuries, too. It is both a joy and sometimes a pain. We’ve got enough tsuris in our own day-to-day existence. There are plenty [...]
Daily Kavanah – Thursday, July 8, 2021
As we continue to enjoy more normalcy after a challenging and unconventional year, the blessings of our life unfold renewed before us. This week, I will share some of the brachot (blessing) formulas that come from our tradition for special and eye-opening moments. Now that the world is slowly and, God willing, safely returning to a new normal, many of us are planning long-awaited trips to visit family and friends, to enjoy the calm and beauty of a beach, or to see a new city we have long-yearned to explore. Travel is an opportunity for us to open up our lives to new experiences and to create sacred memories that sustain us through difficult times. Even a short or nearby trip can help us change our perspective, reset, or feel a deeper sense of appreciation for what we have at home. When I was nineteen, I took my first trip [...]
Daily Kavanah – Wednesday, July 7, 2021
As we continue to enjoy more normalcy after a challenging and unconventional year, the blessings of our life unfold renewed before us. This week, I will share some of the brachot (blessing) formulas that come from our tradition for special and eye-opening moments. When I became a mother for the first time in January 2020, new blessings unfolded before me in so many magical and unexpected ways. And two days after finally accompanying my daughter to receive her eight-week shots, allowing us the new freedom to take her out of the house safely, our city and much of the world beyond went into lockdown. Like so many parents, grandparents, and caregivers, we spent a year-plus finding ways to entertain and teach our child exclusively at home. As we have slowly regained normalcy, our lives have opened up in so many seemingly routine but now extra special ways. After so much [...]
Daily Kavanah – Tuesday, July 6, 2021
As we continue to enjoy more normalcy after a challenging and unconventional year, the blessings of our life unfold renewed before us. This week, I will share some of the brachot (blessing) formulas that come from our tradition for special and eye-opening moments. Both wisdom and mysticism are embedded in the highly organized, ancient grammatical system of biblical Hebrew that also crafts our blessings. Hebrew, as you might already know, is formed on a system of three root letters attached to every word, creating organic connections between words with the same root. The Hebrew word for blessing, bracha, which comes from the Hebrew root bet reish chaf, is linked to the word to both breicha, or wellspring, and berech, meaning knee. I love these associations because, of course, we often bend our knees in the ritual of prayer, and it seems only fitting that our blessings are identified with a great wellspring, ever-flowing if only [...]