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, 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 [...]
Daily Kavanah – Monday, July 5, 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. Every single year of my life—except the year that I lived in Jerusalem and celebrated in Gan Atzmaut, Independence Park—I have enjoyed Fourth of July fireworks with my father. Of course, I learned early on that Independence Day is our time set aside to honor the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, officially forming the United States of America. And even with my pride in living in such a remarkable (if complicated) nation, I think of the Fourth of July as the day when I watch the night sky light up while laughing, joking, singing, and holding hands with my dad. I hope that yesterday you [...]
Daily Kavanah – Friday, July 2, 2021
Praying for a Miracle We have been reading reports about the building collapse in Surfside, Florida, hoping desperately that survivors will be found. First responders, including a team sent from Israel, are working through the night trying to rescue anyone who might have survived this terrible tragedy. In the face of such devastation, it’s natural to pray for a miracle. The Talmud, the 1500-year-old text that is the very heart of rabbinic Judaism, asks somewhat surprisingly if such a prayer is even appropriate. Imagine you are returning from work, the Talmud suggests, and as you get closer to your home, you see smoke billowing up to the sky and you fear that it might be your house on fire. Would it be, the rabbis wonder, appropriate to offer the following prayer in such a situation: “Please God let it not be my house in flames!” They reason that since the [...]
Daily Kavanah – Thursday, July 1, 2021
All too often, we consign the topic of faith to the field of theology and religion, but faith isn’t just about God. It’s about belief. When we place our faith in an idea—about God, about civilization, about existence, even—we give that idea the power to transform us, for better or for worse. Such was the case for Josephine Esther Mentzer, born on this day in 1906 to Hungarian-Jewish immigrants Rose Scholtz and Max Mentzer in Queens, New York. Her parents nicknamed her Eszti, after her mother’s favorite aunt. As a child, Eszti worked alongside her eight siblings at her father’s hardware store, but in high school, she began working for her uncle, a chemist who created and sold beauty products. She quickly became captivated by the science and art of women’s beauty, reasoning that every woman is beautiful, but sometimes just needed the opportunity to show it. She began using [...]
Daily Kavanah – Wednesday, June 30, 2021
Typically, we associate heroism with bravery and strength, qualities that certainly describe the actions of the first Jewish Congressional Medal of Honor Winner, Private Benjamin Bennett Levy, during the Battle of Glendale just outside Richmond, Virginia on June 30, 1862. A drummer boy in B Company of the 1st New York Infantry, Levy exchanged his broken drum for the rifle of his ill comrade. Shortly thereafter, he saw the color bearer, Charley Mahorn, fall from a bullet wound to the chest. Levy then rescued the flag from capture. Though saving a flag may seem quaint by 21st Century standards, during the Civil War, unit colors remained an essential component of warfare. Soldiers took their directions from the colors; allowing the colors to fall to the enemy meant certain defeat. Thus, rescuing the colors, an impulse drilled into the hearts of every soldier, was as practical as it was symbolic. Heroism, [...]