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 – Thursday, October 5, 2023
Hallel is a section of prayer recited during the morning service for particular festivals. The word itself means praise, and the service is comprised of six Psalms (113-118). For this week of Chol HaMoed Sukkot, we will look at some of the Hallel Psalms. In one of the final Psalms for Hallel, we are meant to sing fervently: :אָנָּא יְהֹוָה הוֹשִׁיעָה נָּא: אָנָּא יְהֹוָה הוֹשִׁיעָה נָּא: אָנָּא יְהֹוָה הַצְלִיחָה נָּא: אָנָּא יְהֹוָה הַצְלִיחָה נָּא Please, Lord, save us now; please, Lord, save us now; please, Lord, give us success now!; please, Lord, give us success now! These verses are central to the celebration of Hoshana Raba (a fun one) held on the last day of Sukkot—but they are also deeply connected to one of the central themes of the holiday. Our success and our deliverance, on this agricultural festival, are tied to rain. Sukkot is inextricably linked with its season; in Israel, as in California, this [...]
Daily Kavanah – Wednesday, October 4, 2023
Hallel is a section of prayer recited during the morning service for particular festivals. The word itself means praise, and the service is comprised of six Psalms (113-118). For this week of Chol HaMoed Sukkot, we will look at some of the Hallel Psalms. If there is a singular refrain of Hallel, and thus of Sukkot, it is probably this one: הוֹדוּ לַיהֹוָה כִּי טוֹב - כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ Give thanks to Adonai for God's goodness, God's chesed (kindness) is everlasting. For me, there is incredible power in saying—and even just thinking—these words in the sukkah. To sit in the rain or the cold or the blazing sun and the heat, to sit with bugs (those mosquitos love me!) and the damp, to sit sometimes in discomfort—and to say that God's chesed is everlasting. It is a profound statement, and I think it is also meant to be a profound directive. We know that there are people [...]
Daily Kavanah – Tuesday, October 3, 2023
Hallel is a section of prayer recited during the morning service for particular festivals. The word itself means praise, and the service is comprised of six Psalms (113-118). For this week of Chol HaMoed Sukkot, we will look at some of the Hallel Psalms. Sukkot and Hanukkah are the only multi-day holidays on which Hallel is recited in full throughout the festival days. It is also recited in its entirety on Shavuot and the first two days of Passover; it is not recited at all on Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, or Purim. The main difference between the Full and the "Partial" Hallel service is the inclusion—or lack thereof—of verses from Psalm 115 and 116. Psalm 115, verses 2-3, make the statement: Why should the nations say, "Say, where is their God?" But our God is in the heavens, all that God has wanted, God has done. And Psalm 116, verse [...]
Daily Kavanah – Monday, October 2, 2023
Hallel is a section of prayer recited during the morning service for particular festivals. The word itself means praise, and the service is comprised of six Psalms (113-118). For this week of Chol HaMoed Sukkot, we will look at some of the Hallel Psalms. I have always loved the Hebrew phrase chol hamoed, literally translated to "the ordinary within the Festival." Calendrically, it refers to the intermediate days of Sukkot and Passover; it is the days that are not festivals—meaning no restrictions on work—but are still within the holiday time. To me, there is a real beauty in that between, in time and space that is either/or, that is both/and. Psalm 114 is one of the Psalms recited at every recitation of Hallel, and begins with this phrase—and this memory—בְּצֵאת יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמִּצְרָיִם. It is most often translated as "In their going out from Egypt." Stretching back to my days of Hebrew [...]
Daily Kavanah – Shabbat Message From Rabbi Yoshi – Friday, September 29, 2023
Tonight begins the holiday of Sukkot, our Festival of Booths. My favorite story about the holiday is one I've shared with you before: It’s about the Tzanzer Rebbe (Rabbi Chaim of Tzanz, 1793-1876). It was Rabbi Chaim's custom on the eve of Sukkot to distribute tzedakah generously. He would go about town from house to house making sure the needs of the most vulnerable were met—a basket of food for this family, new clothes for another. One year before the holiday, he told his congregation that he wanted to collect several thousand rubles in order to support families that were experiencing financial difficulties. In no time at all, his generous community donated the necessary funds and then Rabbi Chaim went out immediately to distribute them to those in need. That evening, as the festive holiday began, he entered his sukkah and taught: "It is our custom to decorate our sukkot [...]