Wise Words
Writings of reflection by the Stephen Wise Temple clergy.
Each Monday morning, members of our mailing list receive the weekly email “This Week at Wise,” and on Fridays, a “Shabbat Shalom” email from Rabbi Yoshi which include messages of thought, inspiration, and contemplation from our clergy, along with a schedule of events. Sign up and don’t miss out!
Wise Words – Monday, September 29, 2025
Ever since I was little, the High Holy Days have felt different from all other holidays. Even as a child, before I could even name it, I sensed that they carried a weight and holiness all their own. Maybe it was the itchy tights I was made to wear, or the crispness of autumn that I could smell in the air, but beneath those small details, something sacred stirred. When I think back to the High Holy Days of my childhood in Brooklyn, I remember this sense of beginning again, like the first day of school. What would the next year bring? Who would I become? I remember the sweetness of apples dripping with honey, sticky in my hands, a taste that promised a year filled with blessing. I remember the ringing of the shofar piercing my ears and soul, waiting to hear how long the tekiah gedolah would last. I [...]
Shabbat Shalom – Friday, September 26, 2025
Earlier this week, we gathered as a community—both in person and online—to offer our heartfelt prayers at the dawn of the new year. One of the most powerful and haunting prayers of this season is Unetaneh Tokef, which confronts us with a difficult truth: this year will bring suffering, illness, and loss. Painful as it is to acknowledge, some among us will not live to see the end of 5786. In facing this reality, we affirm the truth of our shared human condition. And yet, at the very end of this prayer, there is hope. We remind ourselves that through heartfelt prayer, through sincere repentance, and through acts of righteous giving, we can soften the decree. That doesn’t mean we will avoid pain or escape death. But it does mean that whatever comes our way can be made more bearable and more meaningful. I know this to be true in [...]
Wise Words – Monday, September 22, 2025
Dear Friends, As the New Year of 5786 approaches, we are filled with gratitude for the gift of belonging to this extraordinary Stephen Wise Temple and Schools community. Our guiding value this year is a powerful teaching from Pirkei Avot: קְנֵה לְךָ חָבֵר K’nei lecha chaver — “Acquire for yourself a friend.” It isn’t a suggestion; it’s an instruction, a commandment. Go make friends! Judaism calls on us to actively create connections, to cultivate relationships, to build a culture of kindness, respect, unity, and friendship. This is what makes our Temple and Schools so special. Every day on our mountaintop, we have the opportunity to create sacred spaces where people join together to learn, to pray, to celebrate, to comfort, and to build lasting bonds. These High Holy Days come as we near two years since October 7, 2023—a day that reshaped so much of our world. In the face of [...]
Shabbat Shalom – Friday, September 19, 2025
A story from our tradition comes to teach us something enduring about this week’s Torah portion — and about life, especially the life of the Jewish people. A teacher once saw her young students playing with small sticks. “Try to break one,” she said. They snapped them easily. Then she tied several together into a bundle and handed it back. This time the children strained, but the sticks would not break. “So it is with us as a people,” she said. “Alone, each of us can be fragile. But bound together, we are strong — almost unbreakable.” This story, taken from Midrash Tanchuma, a collection of rabbinic wisdom compiled about 1500 years ago, explains the words that open this week’s portion, Nitzavim: "אַתֶּם נִצָּבִים הַיּוֹם כֻּלְּכֶם" — Atem nitzavim hayom kulchem, you stand this day, all of you.” Standing together is not always easy — especially in a time of rising antisemitism, when [...]
Wise Words – Monday, September 15, 2025
High Holidays: The Road Ahead On a recent drive to the temple, there was a road sign in large block letters which read “Be Prepared to Stop.” There was roadwork ahead. I find it to be a metaphor for the High Holidays. This is the time of year to stop, take stock of our lives, reflect on the past, and pray for our future. Last Saturday night, we observed Selichot. We chanted prayers and poems in preparation for the High Holidays. Selichot comes from the Hebrew word for “forgiveness,” and the Selichot service is to help us prepare for the High Holidays by engaging us in reflection and accounting. I think of Selichot as the beginning of the sprint of inner preparation. One week from tonight, as the sun sets, we enter Rosh Hashana. Have we prepared? Preparing for the High Holidays is more than making arrangements to attend services or holiday meals [...]