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, June 15, 2021
This week, we have invited Wise members who have been Court Appointed Special Advocates to tell us about the meaningful work they’ve done to help kids who are at the margins of our society by giving them a voice and an ally. Learn more about becoming a CASA at our interest meeting on June 24. We have been involved with CASA/LA since 2012. We were looking for an opportunity to help enhance education opportunities in our community, seeking to make change, one child at a time. Ed became a member of the Board of Trustees and chaired the Finance Committee. As an entirely donor supported organization, strong financials are a key to growing the organization’s impact in the community. Deena helped recruit CASA volunteers. Most recently we completed our CASA training, which left us with even a greater understanding of the challenges foster children face in a system that screams for [...]
Daily Kavanah – Monday, June 14, 2021
Four years ago, my daughter began work as a clinical social worker at Vista Del Mar. If you are of a certain age and grew up in LA, you might know of it as the “Jewish orphanage”—to use a phrase no longer in fashion. Some of our members were beneficiaries of its services and many others have been supporters for decades. These days, Vista serves a mostly non-Jewish population. My daughter provides counseling services with several other therapists in a department for the most challenging of their youthful residents. Her clients are children who have fallen through so many cracks. They are the children of drug addicted mothers, subject to abuse, neglected or abandoned by their parents, and subject to other horrific abuses. I listen to my daughter’s descriptions of the care she provides (all names withheld, of course) and I am astounded by her commitment and the love that [...]
Daily Kavanah – Friday, June 11, 2021
June is known as Pride Month in America as an acknowledgment of the transformational change in perception around LGBTQ+ inclusion over the past five decades since the Stonewall Uprising on June 28, 1969. What was once considered shameful by so many has now become a matter of pride and celebration. We have come a long way and there is indeed much to celebrate. I am particularly proud to be part of a religious tradition that is dynamic and adaptive in this regard. What our Biblical ancestors and other civilizations considered an “abomination” three thousand years ago is increasingly accepted across the denominations of Judaism. Our own Reform movement and Stephen Wise Temple are fully inclusive when it comes to LGBTQ+ marriage, ordination, and participation in the religious life of our community. Israel is a beacon of LGBTQ+ inclusion in the Middle East and beyond. Israel's LGBTQ+ citizens are afforded a [...]
Daily Kavanah – Thursday, June 10, 2021
These days when people list the various forms of hatred that must be eradicated, they include racism, sexism, anti-Asian bias, homophobia, and transphobia but too often they leave antisemitism off the list. Why is that? One reason is that many people view Jews as wealthy whites with “privilege.” The very failure to acknowledge antisemitism as a persistent problem in urgent need of attention is a itself an indication of just how widespread and accepted the world’s oldest hatred is. Furthermore, labeling Jews monolithically as “privileged whites” is reductive and, often, flat-out wrong. Sociologists estimate that more than 20% of American Jews are persons of color. The percentage in Israel is much higher, taking into account the millions of Jews who come from places like Ethiopia, Iraq, Iran, India, Yemen, Egypt, and Morocco. Moreover, it is entirely possible for someone to enjoy “privilege” and at the same time be a victim [...]
Daily Kavanah – Wednesday, June 9, 2021
My father is a retired surgeon. Whenever he would hear about a fellow doctor opening a restaurant or some other, non healthcare related business, he’d offer up these words of caution: “Son,” he’d tell me, “it’s important in life to ‘stay in your lane,’ to focus on your area of expertise and experience.” I thought of my dad‘s wise advice when I read that the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) will be voting on a resolution in September calling for the suspension of home evictions in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem, the cessation of United States aid to Israel, and an endorsement of “the international campaign for boycotts, divestment, and sanctions against apartheid in Israel.” The resolution includes a “rationale” that is riddled with inaccuracies and logical fallacies. It claims that the IDF initiated the violence this past May in Gaza, ignoring the fact that the most recent conflict was begun [...]