A ‘new’ name for an old Sinai tradition: Open Hearts & Open Door begins September 13.   It began in the 1980s as the brainchild of Rabbi Howard Berman: An informal outreach program embracing interfaith families in thinking, discussing, and exploring how to build homes together. Under Rabbi Seth Limmer, it continues …this year as last, with a change of name that reverts to the original: Open Hearts & Open Door (formerly known as Interfaith Outreach).    “It’s a safe place, a place to talk about feelings and ideas,” he explains. “Now we’re recapturing the spirit and promoting our resources for conversations, no matter if you’re a Sinai member or not.” Every month, from September through May, with the guidance of Rabbis Limmer and Zinn, couples gather to talk about holidays and activities, rituals around specific lifecycle events, as well as the similarities and differences. Dating, married, kids or not:...

March 11, 2000. The day I became a Bat Mitzvah. The Torah portion was Pekudei, the very last Torah portion in the book of Exodus. I chanted both my Torah and Haftarah, and then I delivered my very first d’var Torah. My Torah portion was about building the Tabernacle and all of the details needed to set its foundation. That morning I shared with my family and friends that my Bat Mitzvah was the foundation of my Tabernacle, for it was only the beginning of my Jewish journey... I was only 12 years old. Over the past two years, I have officiated a little over 20 Bar and Bat Mitzvah ceremonies and attended countless others. Each Saturday morning, I find myself proud of the young man or young woman as they lead the congregation in worship, read from the Torah and deliver their d’var Torah. The liturgy for Shabbat morning,...

CCAR Journal| Winter 2017 ~   The Meaning of Life:  An Intergenerational Literary Conversation among Max Fitzgerald, Rabbi Greene, Amanda,  and Rabbi Seth Limmer (Chicago Sinai)

A couple of weeks ago, I invited a close friend to a Martin Luther King Day event.  The event featured a number of speakers including leaders from the Black Lives Matter movement. “I can’t come with you,” she told me. “Really? Why?” I asked. “Black Lives Matter is anti-Israel and anti-Semitic.” She stated matter-of-factly. An intelligent, educated, professional who dismissed the entire organization because of one part of their platform. She was unable to see the values that she did agree with. The way Black Lives Matter works to end racial injustice and to dismantle the systems, which maintain inequality, values that I know she holds dear.  Instead she could only see the one value she disagreed with. This is something we all do far too often. We take an organization that challenges our values, the way Black Lives Matters might, when it puts in conflict two core values; a...

Hinei Mah Tov U’mah naim, shevet achim gam yachad. How wonderful it is to be here today, to stand beside you, to stand amongst our Christian and Muslim brothers and sisters. For at its core, this is our Jewish obligation, to not only stand beside our partners in faith, but to stand WITH you. And that is why I am deeply honored to be here this evening to stand WITH you -- Our Jewish story teaches us over and over again the story of redemption. 36 times in our Torah, in the Five Books of Moses, we read, “You shall not oppress the stranger, for you know what it felt like to be a stranger.” 36 times! And we repeat this weekly in Shabbat prayers too. Not simply to recall the history of the Jewish people and not simply to celebrate our freedom from bondage. No -- 36 times over...

Chicago Sinai Torah scrolls are filled with many stories... But, most recently, I learned that one of our Torah scrolls stands tall in the American History Museum in Washington, DC. Chicago Sinai Torah scrolls are filled with many stories. Not just the stories of the five books of Moses. Or the stories about our students reading from the sacred texts. Not just the story of the journey our Torah scroll made from Selma, Alabama to Washington, DC last summer. But, most recently, I learned that one of our Torah scrolls stands tall in the American History Museum in Washington, DC. In the beginning of December, I spent a weekend in Washington, DC with a few of our confirmation students at the Religious Action Center L'taken Seminar. For an entire weekend, our students learn about important issues in our country and learn about the Reform movement's position on these issues.The weekend...

I don’t know about you, but lately, all I keep hearing and reading is how horrible this year, 2016 has been. Just a week ago, my facebook newsfeed flooded with the following statements:  “Seriously 2016, I’m so done with you. RIP George Michael.”  “2016 you are the worst. We love you George Michael.” This wasn’t the first time I saw these remarks, and it wasn’t the last. Only two days later, when we learned that Carrie Fisher died, I actually chose to not look at facebook. I knew what I would see. On the one hand, beautiful tributes to a beloved actress who inspired so many others. And another slew of “2016 I’m over you” or “see in ya 2017” statements reiterating a need for new year, one much better than 2016. A day later I saw a GoFundMe page to “Protect Betty White from 2016.” You get the picture...I...

A blackboard stood in a park in Brooklyn with the question: What is your biggest regret? For an entire day, New Yorkers opened up about some of the deepest, most intimate parts of their lives. As the day went on, the blank board quickly filled. “Not saying I love you” “Burning bridges” “Not staying in touch” “Not being a better friend” By the end of the day, the production team who created this project, noticed a common theme among nearly all of the responses. The regrets people shared were all about chances not taken, words not spoken, dreams never pursued. Of course, regrets aren’t the sole reserve of New Yorkers. We all have them...   The origin of the English word regret comes from Old French and means “to look back with distress or sorrowful longing.”[1]  And the word in Biblical Hebrew is nachem. It’s that feeling of disappointment, distress over...

Shanah Tova!  This year, these words are more difficult to say than in the past. It has been a tough year.  For me personally, for so many of us here this evening.  We have experienced the death of loved ones.  Sudden illnesses have torn families apart. Some of us have lost jobs and experienced the uncertainty of tomorrow.  Others have confronted challenges that come with aging, losing a sense of independence. We’ve faced all sorts of hardships this past year. It has no doubt been a difficult year for our city, as well. Gun violence is at its worst.  Our city continues to operate without a budget. Things have been difficult on a global level, too.  We live in an America where minimum wage does not provide enough for people to live. Antisemitism is on the rise throughout Europe. Terrorist attacks occur on a weekly basis.  We hear and we...

 50. 50 bells. I did not count. I stood, somberly listening to each bell ring. And then a pause.  I wondered during each pause, is this it? Are we done yet? And I watched. I watched cars driving through the street. I watched people walking by. The bells did not stop ringing. 22, 23, 24. I tried to make out the individual faces of the people across the street. And I heard another bell --  37, 38, 39. I felt my eyes welling up with tears. And the bells, they kept ringing -- 45, 46, 47. They are still ringing. My heart started to beat fast. Really fast. I grew angry. 48, 49, 50. Love not Hate, Amanda. Love not Hate. Earlier this week a wise voice spoke, “Love does not despair. Love makes us strong. Love gives us the courage to act. Love gives us hope…”[1] How? How does...