We Mourn, We Hope
by Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback Monday, April 29, 2019 As we were celebrating the last day of Passover, another Shabbat was shattered by violence. Our hearts hurt for and with our sisters and brothers in Poway; [...]
Many Partings
!לְגֹזֵר יַם־סוּף לִגְזָרִים כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ׃ [Praise] the One who parted the Sea of Reeds into many partings — God’s steadfast love is eternal! Psalm 136:13 It’s Passover and so we gather to retell the [...]
A Good Name – Responding to the “Varsity Blues” Admissions Scandal
We all want the best for our children. We all want to help them succeed. We should all know, however, that there are lines which must not be crossed. Getting a tutor for your child [...]
Remembering to Be Better
by Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback Imagine having the most embarrassing, shameful episode of your life broadcast publicly each year. It’s the stuff of nightmares. Yet it’s precisely what our tradition has us do every time this week’s Torah [...]
Tidying Up
The ETERNAL spoke to Moses, saying: Tell the Israelite people to bring Me gifts; you shall accept gifts for Me from every person whose heart so moves him. (Exodus 25:1-2) When I was a [...]
For Our Many Blessings
by Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback There’s a blessing for seeing an elephant. This might surprise you but, when you pause to think about it, it really shouldn’t. After all, there’s a blessing for most everything in [...]
Shifra and Puah
by Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback This week's Torah portion, the last of 2018 and the first of the book of Exodus, tells of Pharaoh’s horrible instruction to the midwives, commanding them to kill each Israelite baby [...]
God is Here
by Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback This week’s parasha tells of a ladder connecting Heaven and Earth. The rabbis, centuries later, taught that when two people sit together and exchange words of Torah, God is present. We [...]
Message in the wake of the violence in Pittsburgh
Our tradition teaches that Shabbat is a time for celebration, rest, and renewal. It is our day of peace, our day of wholeness, our day of shalom. This morning, we learned of a shattered peace [...]
Out of the darkness there was a voice: “Let there be light.” And there was light.
By Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback Light from darkness... It’s what we’ve been working so hard at these past few weeks. Our prayers... Our turning towards our best selves... Our tzedakah - our righteous giving... The purpose [...]