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, December 12, 2023
Tonight we light the sixth candle of Hanukkah. Since my very first trip to Israel, I have been — and continue to be — awed by the geography of the place. It never ceases to amaze me that we can, in 2023, walk in the place named in the Tanakh, or in our sacred stories. Cruse of oil aside, it was a miracle to buy a sufganiah, a jelly donut, in modern day Modi’in, the site of the Hanukkah story, just a few weeks ago. In some years, the beginning of Hanukkah in Israel has been marked by a torchlight parade from Modi’in into Jerusalem, following in the footsteps of the Maccabees. I can imagine the marchers singing the words of the modern Israeli Hannukah song: Banu choshech l’garesh — we have come to banish the darkness; b’yadeinu or va-esh: in our hands, we have light and flame. I do not know if that march happened this [...]
Daily Kavanah – Monday, December 11, 2023
Tonight we light the fifth candle of Hanukkah.I know that for many of us, this Hanukkah feels fraught. Can we celebrate in the midst of such pain for the Jewish people? How do we celebrate a military victory in the midst of a war? And—closer to home—can I celebrate fully and publicly? Is it safe to do so?The Shalom Hartman Institute, with whom Rabbi Yoshi and I traveled to Israel last month, put together a candle-lighting ritual for this year; it is their attempt to answer those questions, particularly the first. What will it feel like, the teaching opens, to light Hanukkah candles when our Jewish family and friends in Israel are still at war?Their suggestion comes in the form of leaning into Jewish values. Specifically, the ones they highlight are: heroism, mutual responsibility, belonging, peoplehood, hope, consolation, faith, and peace. Each is embedded into the Hanukkah story, and each has something [...]
Daily Kavanah – Friday, December 8, 2023
Today is the first day of Hanukkah. In the darkest time of the year, instead of cursing the darkness, we kindle a flame. This year, we need that flame more than ever. We need hope. We need healing. We need light. I am feeling this personally ever more poignantly because, yesterday, a great light was extinguished that diminishes our world considerably. My teacher and rabbi, David Ellenson, died suddenly at age 76. Rabbi Ellenson was an unparalleled scholar, a gifted and compassionate teacher, and institutional leader, and — above all else — a caring, loving, gracious, and compassionate human being. David brought his whole self to the classroom and was known, loved, and admired for his near encyclopedic recall of names and dates, his ability to connect the many disciplines he had mastered, and his great big loving heart that he poured into his scholarship, his work, and the [...]
Daily Kavanah – Thursday, December 7, 2023
This past Sunday, students in our Camp Wise Sundays program studied the Jewish value of trust, bitachon, examining how trust shaped Jewish history – from Hanukkah to the present – as well as the role trust plays in our everyday lives. During this week’s Daily Kavannot, we examine how trust shapes our people’s history and present. The festival of Hanukkah, which begins tonight, is often portrayed exclusively as a tale of victory by the Jews, whose trust in their traditions, in themselves, and in one another led them to success against the superior forces of the Seleucid Greeks. But Hanukkah is much more than a tale of military victory. It is also an example of how we may navigate the events that call our trust into question. For, if the history of Hanukkah teaches us that, with trust, we can succeed against overwhelming odds, then the succeeding era of Jewish history [...]
Daily Kavanah – Wednesday, December 6, 2023
This past Sunday, students in our Camp Wise Sundays program studied the Jewish value of trust, bitachon, examining how trust shaped Jewish history – from Hanukkah to the present – as well as the role trust plays in our everyday lives. In this week’s Daily Kavanot, we’ll also examine how trust shapes our people’s history and present. Though we exercise trust in so many aspects of our lives, from performing the everyday tasks of life to conquering new and exciting challenges, our lives are also filled with moments when our trust falters. What do we do when our trust is betrayed? This is the fundamental question posed by the Book of Job. We regularly quote snippets from the book in our daily prayers (including the Oseh Shalom prayer which concludes the Amidah), in our High Holy Day prayers, and in moments of loss. However, there is no set time in the Jewish calendar [...]