From The Rabbi

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A message from R. Rachel re CBI of Colleyville, TX

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Praying for Beth Israel

Dear Congregation Beth Israel community, There is nothing quite like the gut-wrenching feeling of emerging from the peace of Shabbat — a day when some of us avoid the news […]

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From smallness to hope – a d’varling for Bo

In this week’s Torah portion, Bo, we are deep in the story of the plagues and traumas that unfolded as a prelude to yetziat Mitzrayim, our Exodus or going-forth from […]

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The ones who come after: Vayechi

This week’s parsha is Vayechi, “He lived.” It opens, “Jacob lived seventeen years in the land of Egypt, so that the span of Jacob’s life came to one hundred and […]

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Abundance and dreams, resilience and hope: Miketz and Chanukah

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Pharaoh’s dreams (artist unknown); an oil-lamp chanukiyah. This week we continue the Joseph story. In this installment, Pharaoh has two disturbing dreams. In one dream, seven happy fat cows emerge […]

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Shavua tov, chag sameach, and looking forward to Shabbat Chanukah!

Shabbat Services This Week Join us this week for multi-access Shabbat Chanukah Morning Services at 9:30am on Saturday. Because it’s Chanukah, we’ll sing the praise songs of Hallel with our morning […]

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Wrestle and stretch – a d’varling for Vayishlach

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This week’s Torah portion, Vayishlach, contains the story from which our people takes its name. Jacob is on his way to meet up with his brother Esau for the first […]

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Integrity and becoming – a d’varling for Toldot

Our Torah stories are the same every year. But as we change and grow, we find new ideas and understandings in the same old stories. In the verses from Toldot […]

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Go – a d’varling for Lech-Lecha

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהֹוָה֙ אֶל־אַבְרָ֔ם לֶךְ־לְךָ֛ מֵאַרְצְךָ֥ וּמִמּֽוֹלַדְתְּךָ֖ וּמִבֵּ֣ית אָבִ֑יךָ אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אַרְאֶֽךָּ׃  Lech-lecha / go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will […]

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The Strength to See What Isn’t Yet

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Earlier this summer, I copied down a Chinese proverb, though an internet search suggests that this many not actually come to us from China after all! But the words resonate […]

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The Strength to Go Gentle

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Did you know that Shakespeare wrote King Lear while quarantining for possible exposure to the Bubonic plague? Possibly also Macbeth and Antony and Cleopatra. I assume all of us wrote […]

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Rejoice in the CBI Sukkah!

Dear Congregation Beth Israel members and friends, Four days after Yom Kippur we enter the festival of Sukkot. (Deep thanks to Jen Burt and family for once again building and […]

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Preparing for This Yom Kippur

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Dear Congregation Beth Israel members and friends, It was a joy to be with so many of you during Rosh Hashanah. I hope that you are finding meaning in these […]

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When We See Each Other: a d’varling for Shabbat Shuvah

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Ordinarily on Shabbat Shuvah I would talk about teshuvah, return — turning our lives around, returning to our Source and to our highest selves. This is, after all, the work […]

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Help CBI Feed the Hungry

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Dear Congregation Beth Israel members and friends, During the Days of Awe, many synagogues hold food drives for dried and canned foods. We have done this for many years at […]

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The Strength to Discern

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On Sunday evening I offered a tiny pearl of introduction to this year’s high holiday theme of gevurah. Yesterday morning we talked about the strength it takes to help each other […]

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