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 – Wednesday, October 11, 2023
This week, we are dedicating our Daily Kavanot to the people and the State of Israel. Our thoughts and our prayers are with them. Below, you'll find video of from our powerful community Jewish Community Vigil for Israel on Sunday night. In his words on Sunday, Rabbi Noah Farkas, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles spoke about the Jewish people as lev echad, one heart. Our hearts, he said, are a seismograph. For more information and ways you can help the people in Israel, or to watch the full event, please visit WiseLA.org/Israel. Please take a moment to send an urgent message to the White House and to your representatives in Congress, imploring them to continue to stand with Israel.
Daily Kavanah – Tuesday, October 10, 2023
This week, we are dedicating our Daily Kavanot to the people and the State of Israel. Our thoughts and our prayers are with them. Below, you’ll find video from our powerful community gathering of solidarity on Sunday night. Together, we joined and sang HaTikvah, "The Hope," Israel's national anthem. For more information and ways you can help the people in Israel, please visit WiseLA.org/Israel.
Daily Kavanah – Monday, October 9, 2023: “Es Brent,” It Burns: Grab a Bucket and Douse the Flames
"Es Brent," It Burns: Grab a Bucket and Douse the FlamesBy Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback The following is the text of Rabbi Yoshi's speech on Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023, at the Los Angeles Jewish Community Vigil for Israel sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, the Board of Rabbis of Southern California, and area synagogues and other Jewish institutions I wish we were gathering for a different occasion, under different circumstances. We all do.But often we just don’t get to choose. Moments like this are chosen for us. What happened yesterday has happened before. In Fez and Tripoli. In Krakow and Kishinev. Innocents slaughtered: young and old alike, sitting quietly in their homes or gathered outside to enjoy music. What happened yesterday—what's happening now—has happened before. Over three millennia, we've survived pogrom after pogrom, massacre after massacre. We survived the Shoah. The trauma, the pain, the agony we carry—it's [...]
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 [...]