Temple Judah

Rabbi's Office: September 2010

Shana Tovah Everyone,

Rabbi Akiva, the great First-Century sage, used to tell a particular story to his students. It was about a fox, a very clever fox, who thought he could outwit a school of fish.

One day, the story goes, a fox found himself approaching the edge of a stream. Having not eaten in a few days the fox was quite hungry. He decided he wanted fish for dinner, so he waited by the river for his food to swim by. After a short wait, the fox noticed a tasty looking school of fish swimming downstream.

President's Column: September 2010

At our most recent board meeting, the topic of mixed marriages came up. In fact, the first issue at hand was whether or not to reverse a policy adopted in the 1980’s that prohibited mixed marriages from taking place in the Temple. While the board unanimously agreed to allow mixed marriages in the Temple under certain conditions (those conditions will be discussed later), your co-president was in fact a casualty of this policy.

Kathy and I were married in 1988. We were married in Cedar Rapids at the now Clarion Hotel. The marriage was co-officiated by a Rabbi from Chicago and Westminster’s own Jack Woods. We looked into getting married at

Rabbi's Office: August 2010

Shalom Everyone,

As the summer draws to a close, we once again find ourselves faced with the challenge of repentance. I know it seems early to be speaking of atonement and forgiveness but it isn’t. This year, Rosh Hashanah falls on September 8, which means we have just over a month to prepare ourselves.

For many Jews, Elul, the Hebrew month preceding the High Holy Days, is a period of serious reflection and meditation. These Jews begin every day, during this time, reciting poems of forgiveness, hoping to atone fully for their mistakes of the past year. They understand that the meaning and inspiration they are able to draw from their High Holy Day experience is directly proportional to the effort they put in to being prepared for atonement.

For most of us, however, the month of Elul seems no different than the rest of the year. We continue the same secular schedule we’ve always had. We get up at the same time, drive the same commute, work the same job. We