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, February 21, 2024
Mitzvah Day 2024 is less than a month away and we are hoping that our community, across all ages, will join us for our morning of service. There are projects to benefit local causes like the unhoused, our hospitals, and Wise Readers to Leaders. In addition, we’ll be supporting a range of vital Israeli beneficiaries, both those to respond to the crisis of the Gaza war as well as our usual partner organization. Join us! Bring your kids, grandkids, teens! Support our causes! You can do it all here.To get you in the Mitzvah Day Spirit I’ll be sharing some of my favorite Tikkun Olam texts from the Jewish tradition along with my interpretations. Let’s start with a text from the Jerusalem Talmud Sanhedrin 4:9.The text has been modified for gender neutrality.Therefore, a human was created single and alone in the world to teach that for anybody who destroys a single life [...]
Daily Kavanah – Tuesday, February 20, 2024
Mitzvah Day 2024 is less than a month away and we are hoping that our community, across all ages, will join us for our morning of service. There are projects to benefit local causes like the unhoused, our hospitals, and Wise Readers to Leaders. In addition, we’ll be supporting a range of vital Israeli beneficiaries, both those to respond to the crisis of the Gaza war as well as our usual partner organization. Join us! Bring your kids, grandkids, teens! Support our causes! You can do it all here. To get you in the Mitzvah Day Spirit I’ll be sharing some of my favorite Tikkun Olam texts from the Jewish tradition along with my interpretations. אָז יִבָּקַע כשַּׁחַר אוֹרֶךָ וַאֲרֻכָתְךָ מְהֵרָה תִצְמָח I’ve owned many tallitot over my years as a rabbi—it’s sort of a uniform of the profession. My most recent two have had the Hebrew passage above written in beautiful [...]
Daily Kavanah – Monday, February 19, 2024
Mitzvah Day 2024 is less than a month away and we are hoping that our community, across all ages, will join us for our morning of service. There are projects to benefit local causes like the unhoused, our hospitals, and Wise Readers to Leaders. In addition, we’ll be supporting a range of vital Israeli beneficiaries, both those to respond to the crisis of the Gaza war as well as our usual partner organization. Join us! Bring your kids, grandkids, teens! Support our causes! You can do it all here. To get you in the Mitzvah Day Spirit I’ll be sharing some of my favorite Tikkun Olam texts from the Jewish tradition along with my interpretations. Let’s begin by dispelling a myth: Contrary to what some have said, Tikkun Olam is very much a part of Jewish tradition, ever since the phrase found its way into early prayer books and was [...]
Daily Kavanah – Friday, February 16, 2024
“During the month of Adar, joy increases (BT Ta’anit 29A).” During the Jewish lunar leap year, similar to the Babylonian lunar leap year, a thirteenth month is added to the calendar: Adar, the final month in the Babylonian and Biblical Jewish calendar, is repeated. In Babylonian, the name Adar refers to the darkness created by cloud cover during the last month of winter. In Hebrew, Adar is most closely connected to adir, meaning strength. The sages teach that joy increases during the month of Adar, doubly so in a leap year, when there are two months of Adar. The joy we experience during the months of Adar, according to the sages, affects both matters of spirit and matters of commerce. The Talmud even encourages Jews engaged in litigation with non-Jews to pursue such litigation in Adar, as the months promise good fortune for the Jewish people. The association between Adar [...]
Daily Kavanah – Thursday, February 15, 2024
As we enter the first week of the Hebrew month of Adar I, Rabbi Josh examines what our tradition has to teach us about joy, stemming from the Talmud’s suggestion that, “During the month of Adar, joy increases (BT Ta’anit 29A).” Rabbi Jonathan Sacks (z”l) critically examines the association between joy and Adar, questioning the suitability of responding to the tale of Purim with joy. After all, for the people who narrowly escape destruction, relief may feel more appropriate than joy and celebration. He also notes that we do not sing psalms of joy and praise (hallel), as we do on most festivals. The joy we experience during Adar, Rabbi Sacks reasons, must therefore be distinct from the joy born of gratitude that we feel during traditional harvest festivals, when hallel is recited. It is, rather, a defiant joy, a selective response to the vulnerability arising from Jewish life. By making merry [...]