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How quickly will our pulse return to normal after Paris, Beirut, Sinai…?

Posted by Rabbi Ron Symons on November 16, 2015

Yet again, we are under attack. The attack is two-fold. It is life-threatening. People across our globe are being killed and oppressed because too many of us are not embracing the concept “Love your neighbor as yourself” as a way of life. The devastation in the Sinai, Beirut and Paris (just to mention a few of our current challenges) are the recent expressions of this hatred. It is also …

The Dodgers are Still in Brooklyn

Posted by Rabbi Ron Symons on November 9, 2015

My Hat of Choice: Brooklyn Dodgers My Dad, Jerry, still thinks that the Dodgers play in Brooklyn! He won’t give up on that reality even though he and I, along with my son Micah, have actually been to a Dodgers game in Los Angeles. It is my Dad’s honor that I wear a Brooklyn Dodgers hat as my baseball hat of choice (except when I am …

What will they say when?

Posted by Rabbi Ron Symons on November 1, 2015

What if they are writing my eulogy today? Not to be morbid, but it is time for me to start thinking about what they might say at my funeral. Trust me, I have many years left, (God willing), but it is still time to think. I got to thinking about this when I stood in front of a replica of the very simple mule drawn wagon that …

If I Still Shout Today…

Posted by Rabbi Ron Symons on October 25, 2015

When is Enough Enough? I had a moment this summer. I went to one of my favorite big box stores to buy some screws for a project. The middle-aged salesman helped me politely and then asked what type of drill I had. I told him that I have a regular drill. He clarified for me that I would need a hammer drill to install these screws …

“You Didn’t Build That!” – “We Built That!”

Posted by Rabbi Ron Symons on October 16, 2015

Who Started Your Journey? The political theater of the 2016 election has made me nostalgic for an earlier time: the 2012 election. You might remember that President Obama made the comment in Roanoke, VA, "You didn't build that." He intended to point out that every generation builds on the successes of previous generations. The Republicans countered with the phrase, "We built that!" Not only did the …

Walking Tall

Posted by Rabbi Ron Symons on October 13, 2015

We all know people, we might have even done it ourselves…. There are times in our lives when we stand tall, above all the rest, because we know that we must. Maybe it was easier to do way back when on the playground, “That’s not fair!” we might have yelled. It took a little more courage to do in the high school locker room, on …

J Film Presents ReelAbilities Film Festival

Posted by Todd Smith on October 9, 2015

Next week begins a week-long festival in Pittsburgh "Celebrating the Lives, Stories and Artistic Expressions of people with Disabilities." 80% film, 20% photography, the festival runs Thursday to Thursday, starting on October 22. Two amazing photography projects will be on display: Change How You See, See How You Change Rick Guidotti’s non-profit organization, Positive Exposure, utilizes photography to transform public perceptions of people living with genetic, physical and behavioral differences. The …

A Simchat Torah Message

Posted by Rabbi Ron Symons on October 2, 2015

As we prepare to celebrate Simchat Torah (the annual ending and beginning of the Torah reading cycle in synagogue), I want to let you know that there are 304,805 letters in every Torah Scroll. Each and every one of them is a handcrafted work of art written by a scribe with special quill, ink and intention. If one of these letters were to be missing, …

Sukkot – Yet Another Holy Day

Posted by Rabbi Ron Symons on September 25, 2015

Just when we thought we made it through the Holy Days, here comes another one: Sukkot. I find it ironic and insightful that Jewish Wisdom gives us the impression that with the end of Yom Kippur we are secure, well written in the Book of Life. Yet, just a mere 5 days later, we place ourselves in a hut (Sukkah) whose roof is liable to blow off …

Entering the Season of Books

Posted by Rabbi Ron Symons on August 31, 2015

As our finger tips scroll through the rest of the summer weeks listed on our phones, we are preparing to enter the season of books. Our students are anticipating the end of summer reading assignments – so many pages divided by so many days… ‘I can do this… tomorrow’. Our business leaders are preparing to close the books on the 3rd quarter of 2015 and open …

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