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!
Shabbat Shalom – Friday, September 12, 2025
As 5785 draws to a close, Parashat Ki Tavo reminds us that the choices we make, as individuals and as a community, can shape the future we inherit—at times bringing blessings, at other times bringing curses. This is a powerful lens through which to look back on our own year. What blessings did we experience in 5785? Perhaps new children or grandchildren were welcomed into our families. Joyous milestones: engagements, weddings, new opportunities in work and study. As a community, we’ve celebrated so much—most recently, the opening of our new Aaron Milken Center, which promises to nurture and inspire generations to come. More broadly, as a people, we have witnessed extraordinary resilience and strength from our sisters and brothers in Israel. These are blessings, and as the Torah teaches, it is our sacred task to count them, to say todah rabbah, and to let gratitude fill our hearts. And yet, Ki Tavo also insists that [...]
Wise Words – Monday, September 8, 2025
In just two weeks we’ll be together for Rosh Hashanah—singing melodies that lift our souls, twisting the fringes of our tallitot between our fingers, gazing out from our mountaintop sanctuary, soaking up the wisdom of our rabbis, and celebrating another turn of the year. These days are filled with sweetness and searching as we open ourselves to the spiritual work of renewal. And though the world around us lately often feels messy and overwhelming, it can seem hardest to focus on our own inner lives—yet there is no more urgent time than now to start the work of repair within ourselves so that we might continue to heal the world around us afterward. In this season, our tradition gives us a companion: Psalm 27. For centuries Jews have recited it every day from the beginning of Elul through the end of the High Holy Day season. The psalm names our fears—enemies, [...]
Shabbat Shalom – Friday, September 5, 2025
There’s a children’s song sung frequently around this time of year that many of us will recognize:“I like to hear the shofar blast,Sometimes slow and sometimes fast…I like to hear the shofar blast,Happy, happy, happy new year!”It captures the joy of hearing the shofar through the eyes of a child—playful, fun, a little silly even. For most of my life, that’s how the shofar has felt here in America—a sound we anticipated each fall with delight, a joyous reminder that another year has arrived. Music for celebration, not alarm.But our tradition tells us that the shofar was sounded for a number of reasons, not all of them festive or delightful. It was an alarm in times of danger, a summons to battle, a cry of brokenness, a trembling before judgment. For Maimonides, for example, the message of the shofar was simple and urgent:Awake, you slumberers, from your sleep—עוּרוּ יְשֵׁנִים מִשְּׁנַתְכֶםFor many [...]
Wise Words – Monday, September 1, 2025
We are several days into Elul, the Hebrew month of preparation for the High Holy Days. During this time, it’s customary to recite special prayers focusing on spiritual renewal, to increase charitable giving, to immerse more deeply in Torah study, and importantly, to seek reconciliation with those we have wronged (or from whom we’re estranged). It’s common to sound the shofar each morning of Elul as an inducement to undertake these tasks. To encourage and support you in your own Elul preparation, I invite you to consider the teachings of the NYU philosophy professor, Samuel Scheffler. He’s the author of the book, Death and the Afterlife.Scheffler redefines the term “afterlife” and asks his audience to consider that the very real and compelling definition of this term is the awareness that most of those we love will continue to live after us. They are our this-worldly afterlife. He suggests that were we to learn that [...]
Shabbat Shalom – Friday, August 29, 2025
Outside the office of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, of blessed memory, there hung a framed poster illustrated by Mordechai Rosenstein with the words: “Justice, justice shall you pursue” (Deuteronomy 16:20). For her, as for so many, these words captured the moral imperative at the heart of a life devoted to law, fairness, and the protection of the vulnerable. That famous verse is found in this week’s Torah portion, Shoftim, a parashah deeply concerned with the exercise of authority—our expectations for our leaders and, more broadly, for ourselves. After discussing the appointment of judges and the importance of judging justly, Shoftim turns to the possibility that the Israelites may, at some future time, wish—like other nations—to be ruled by a king. The Torah allows for such a possibility, but immediately sets limits on royal power. Unlike the rulers of other nations, Israel’s king cannot accumulate unlimited wealth, horses, or wives. Power must be restrained and, ultimately, shared. Leadership, [...]