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!
Daily Kavanah – Thursday, April 10, 2025
There is an email letter being circulated among Jewish clergy inviting us to affirm a list of ten beliefs that reflect our understanding of what makes us uniquely Jewish and American. Given the considerable discord over some basic values in our country, I thought it would be meaningful to share this list with you. Not because I expect all to agree with them, but rather as a way of inviting reflection about your own core values and the extent to which certain Jewish principles might influence your own world view. I’ll share their values with you over the next several days as a reminder of some core beliefs that continue to guide a wide diversity of our Jewish spiritual leaders. I’ve grouped them under broad topics and included references that the authors believe inform these principles. Securing the Next Generations We believe in respecting and caring for our world, [...]
Daily Kavanah – Wednesday, April 9, 2025
There is an email letter being circulated among Jewish clergy inviting us to affirm a list of ten beliefs that reflect our understanding of what makes us uniquely Jewish and American. Given the considerable discord over some basic values in our country, I thought it would be meaningful to share this list with you. Not because I expect all to agree with them, but rather as a way of inviting reflection about your own core values and the extent to which certain Jewish principles might influence your own world view. I’ll share their values with you over the next several days as a reminder of some core beliefs that continue to guide a wide diversity of our Jewish spiritual leaders. I’ve grouped them under broad topics and included references that the authors believe inform these principles.Integrity in Our Business and Personal FinanceWe believe in fairness in business and all transactions: [...]
Daily Kavanah – Tuesday, April 8, 2025
There is an email letter being circulated among Jewish clergy inviting us to affirm a list of ten beliefs that reflect our understanding of what makes us uniquely Jewish and American. Given the considerable discord over some basic values in our country, I thought it would be meaningful to share this list with you. Not because I expect all to agree with them, but rather as a way of inviting reflection about your own core values and the extent to which certain Jewish principles might influence your own world view. I’ll share their values with you over the next several days as a reminder of some core beliefs that continue to guide a wide diversity of our Jewish spiritual leaders. I’ve grouped them under broad topics and included references that the authors believe inform these principles. Learning from Others and Expanding our Knowledge We believe in honesty, commanded not to [...]
Daily Kavanah – Monday, April 7, 2025
There is an email letter being circulated among Jewish clergy inviting us to affirm a list of ten beliefs that reflect our understanding of what makes us uniquely Jewish and American. Given the considerable discord over some basic values in our country, I thought it would be meaningful to share this list with you. Not because I expect all to agree with them, but rather as a way of inviting reflection about your own core values and the extent to which certain Jewish principles might influence your own world view. I’ll share their values with you over the next several days as a reminder of some core beliefs that continue to guide a wide diversity of our Jewish spiritual leaders. I’ve grouped them under broad topics and included references that the authors believe inform these principles.Our Basic HumanityWe believe that all people are the children of God, endowed with holiness, [...]
Daily Kavanah – Friday, April 4, 2025
The Hebrew Bible expresses the central concerns of the minds and hearts of an ancient people. One such concern underlies the question posed by the prophet Micah (6:6–8): 'With what shall I approach the ETERNAL? Shall I approach God with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? God has told you what is good and what the ETERNAL requires of you: Only to do justice and to love goodness and to walk humbly with your God.' —Baruch Levine, JPS Commentary on Leviticus Micah’s question is the question for every seeker, every person of faith: What does God require of us? What does the Holy One of Blessing demand? The answer Micah offers is clear: do justice, love goodness, walk humbly with God. In his now-classic commentary on Leviticus (the book of the Bible we begin to explore this week) Professor Baruch Levine notes that the Torah’s answer to Micah’s question appears in the middle [...]