Rabbi Bruce Adler
Serving the Greater Cincinnati Community since 1984
Spirit, Music & Art...Make Up The Greatest Part
Be Healthy Everyone
We Need Each Other
I’m a piece, you’re a piece, the puzzle’s incomplete
We need each other.
I’m a part of the whole, so are you, so are all
We need each other.
There are things I can do, different than the ones you do
We need each other.
Every part must be played, every voice carries weight
We need each other.
We need each other’s talents, we need each other’s strengths
We need each other’s love, we need each other’s faith
We need each other’s vision, we need each other’s time
We need each other’s wisdom
We need each other.
Intertwined by design, connected and aligned
We need each other.
We’re not done if someone is neglected or unsung
We need each other.
In pain and in woe, when hope has fallen low
We need each other.
When there’s joy to be shared, when we long for those who care
We need each other.
We need each other’s talents, we need each other’s strengths
We need each other’s love, we need each other’s faith
We need each other’s vision, we need each other’s time
We need each other’s wisdom
We need each other.
In the New Year 5783 which we are about to begin,
May we all be inscribed in the Book of Life for a year of Good Health, Happiness, Peace & Prosperity
The High Holidays 2022
Rosh HaShana
Eve of September 25th - September 27th
Yom Kippur
Eve of October 9th - October 10th
From the High Holiday Liturgy:
You open the Book of Remembrance,
and the record speaks for itself,
for each of us has signed it with deeds.
The Hebrew month of Elul is a preparatory month before the High Holy Days. Although teshuvah - “turning,” “repentance” - is good at all times, the month of Elul is choicest.
From the beginning of the month of Elul on, whenever a person writes a personal letter, he should mention at the beginning that he is praying in his friend’s behalf for a good year to come, along the lines - “May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.”
The zodiacal symbol for the Hebrew month of Tishri, in which the High Holy Days occur, is a balance - which is an intimation that all the deeds of human kind are weighed in the balance in order “to give every person according to their ways, according to the fruit of their doings.”
On this day we all pass before You, one by one, like a flock of sheep. As a shepherd counts his sheep, making each one of them pass under his staff, so You review every living being, measuring the years and decreeing the destiny of every creature.
On Rosh HaShana it is written,
on Yom Kippur it is sealed:
How many shall pass on, how many shall come to be:
who shall live and who shall die;
who shall see ripe old age and who shall not;
who shall perish by fire and who by water;
who by sword and who by beast;
who by hunger and who by thirst;
who by earthquake and who by plague;
who by strangling and who by stoning;
who shall be secure and who shall be driven;
who shall be tranquil and who shall be troubled;
who shall be poor and who shall be rich;
who shall be humbled and who shall be exalted.
But Repentance, Prayer and Charity temper judgment’s severe decree.
Shana
Tova
5783
Be well and be happy
Have peace and contentment
May each day be well spent
Free of resentment.
In this coming New Year
May blessings of good cheer
Abundantly appear.
May your does be gentle
May wisdom fill your mind
What you seek may you find
May your countenance shine.
In this coming New Year
May blessings of good cheer
Abundantly appear.
Be brave and have courage
May loss not deter you
Love what you do
Each day be renewed.
In this coming New Year
May blessings of good cheer
Abundantly appear.
In This Coming
New Year
Sukkot
The Time of Rejoicing
The Feast of Booths
The Festival of Ingathering
Eve of October 9th, 2022 -
Sundown October 16th, 2022
Sukkot
The Sukkah is a temporary booth of historical significance put up to remind us of the journey our ancestors made through the wilderness. But Sukkot is also called the Festival of Ingathering, and celebrates the bounties of nature, with thanksgiving for the fruit of the soil.
The most dramatic feature of this festival is the Sukkah - symbol of the tabernacle, standing as a visual reminder of man’s common dependence on God. The other principle symbols of Sukkot are reminders of its agricultural background. The Lulav is a palm branch, to which have been bound sprigs of myrtle and branches of the willow tree. The Etrog is a citron, a fragrant golden fruit which grows in Israel. The Lulav and Etrog are taken together and waved in all directions, to symbolize that the Eternal One is everywhere.
Following the solemn High Holidays, it is, in contrast, a time of joyous celebration. The keynote of its observance is as expressed in the phrase, “And thou shalt rejoice in thy Festival.”
Simchat Torah
The Holiday of Rejoicing
With The Torah
Eve of October 17th, 2022 -
Sundown October 18th, 2022
Simchat Torah
Simchat Torah, the “Holiday of Rejoicing with the Torah” is celebrated with much merriment. The concluding portion of the Torah is read and this is followed immediately by reading from Genesis, the very beginning of the Torah. Jewish tradition did not want to leave the slightest impression that once the entire Torah was read, the people would consider abandoning it. And so the cycle of Torah reading for the coming year was begun immediately. Dancing, singing, handclapping and parading with the Torah is the order of the day.
Simchat Torah is the last Jewish holiday until Chanukah. It brings to a close all of the holidays in the Hebrew month of Tishrei.
Chanukah
Sparkles to the left,
Sparkles to the right,
Sparkles everywhere,
It’s Chanukah tonight.
It’s Chanukah tonight
It’s Chanukah tonight.
Dreidels whirling ‘round
Latkes warm and light
Giggles, smiles and laughs
It’s Chanukah tonight.
It’s Chanukah tonight.
It’s Chanukah tonight.
Gifts to give and share
Such a happy sight
Gladness fills the air
It’s Chanukah tonight.
It’s Chanukah tonight
It’s Chanukah tonight.
It’s Chanukah tonight!
Chanukah
Our Festival of Lights is
celebrated for eight days
Each night of Chanukah we add another light to the Menorah, until all eight lamps shine on the eighth night.
After Kindling
We kindle these lights to commemorate the saving acts, miracles and wonders which You have performed for our ancestors, in those days at this time, through Your holy Kohanim. Throughout the eight days of Chanukah, these lights are sacred, and we are not permitted to make use of them, but only to look at them, in order to offer thanks and praise to Your great Name for Your miracles, for Your wonders and for Your salvation.
(Maoz Tzur)
Chanukah 2022 is observed from the evening of
December 18th - December 26th
Tu B’Shevat
The New Year
of the Trees
The 15th of the
Hebrew month of Shevat
February 5th-6th, 2023
Forests green and blue lakes babbling
Hills a'rambling all testify
To the power, to the power up on high.
Chirping birds and winged creatures
Two legged speakers all testify
To the power, to the power up on high.
So sing, all creation,
Sing to the power up on high.
Lift up your voices in one great chorus
Through all the earth up to the sky.
Swirling spheres and pulsing planets
Glimmering galaxies testify
To the power, to the power up on high.
On Tu B’Shevat,
we mindfully awaken our
hearts to the wonders of
the natural world -
the trees, the flowers,
the fields, the streams,
and all of the diverse and
wonderful creatures
that dwell on earth.
From the CD album
"B’nai Tikvah Songs, Chants & Meditations"
by Rabbis Bruce and Donna Adler
The Celebration of Purim
Eve of March 6th - March 7th 2023
13th of Adar - 14th of Adar
When Adar arrives,
our joy increases.
Oh Purim, Oh Purim,
Oh Purim full of joy
For every, for every
Jewish girl and boy.
It is said:
“When you feel most like crying, then rejoice.”
When Purim comes, we rejoice.
We drink our wine and sing our songs.
We make a happy noise because we are alive, because in the long tale of our people not one Haman has risen to destroy us, but one after another.
And yet, because we live, our cup of joy overflows.
Our people lives!
Purim teaches us not to despair when dangers are most threatening and persecutions most cruel. The story of Purim has been repeated many times in Jewish history, in one form or another. Yet, our spiritual teachings, our faith, our hope and our unconquerable will to live have nurtured and sustained us.
Mordecai sent letters to the Jews, enjoining them to observe the 14th and 15th days of Adar each year, exactly like the days when the Jews had found relief from their enemies, making them days of feasting and joy, for the exchange of gifts of food and alms to the poor - so that these days of Purim should be remembered and kept for all generations.
Happy Purim 2023!
Passover
Exodus & Liberation
They Journeyed
Passover is the oldest Jewish holiday. Every 15th of Nissan for the past 3000 years we have remembered and retold the story of the Exodus - the going out from Egypt. According to the Torah, The Children of Israel became slaves to the Egyptians, building monuments for the Pharoahs. The cries of their suffering reached God who chose Moses to lead them out of their slavery. Every Pesach we retell the story at the Seder, the special service and festive meal of Pesach. The story is in the Hagaddah which is also our guidebook for the Seder. But the most important symbol of Pesach is Matzah, the flat crunchy cracker called the “bread of affliction.
Removing Hametz
Removing hametz from our homes before Pesach is a major task. But what exactly is hametz? Hametz can be translated as leaven. It is the rising that takes place when we mix flour and water and let the mixture sit too long. Hametz is often used to refer to any foods not allowed on Passover. Some Jews also understand hametz to be the symbol of more than simply forbidden Passover food.
When the children of Israel left Egypt land
They journeyed, they journeyed
Wandered forty long years through the desert sand
They journeyed, they journeyed
Through the troubles and the trials and the struggles all the while
They saw God's mighty hand.
And it's on they journeyed always ever onward on the way to the promised land,
Yes it's on they journeyed always ever onward on the way to the promised land.
With a man named Moses at the head of the clan
They journeyed, they journeyed.
God spoke to Moses and He showed him his plan
They journeyed, they journeyed.
From a lowly group of slaves who toiled night and day he made a mighty band.
And it's on they journeyed always ever onward on the way to the promised land,
Yes it's on they journeyed always ever onward on the way to the promised land.
Well God saw this little band so brave and bold
As they journeyed, they journeyed.
He claimed them for His own, yes He made His will be known
They journeyed, they journeyed
He gave them His law of truth and good
To help them understand.
And it's on they journeyed always ever onward on the way to the promised land,
Yes it's on they journeyed always ever onward on the way to the promised land.
For three thousand years of blood sweat and tears
They journeyed, they journeyed.
Time and time again no one to call a friend
They journeyed, they journeyed.
Trying to build a world of justice peace and love
If anyone can do it they can.
For it's on they journeyed always ever onward on the way to the promised land,
Yes it's on they journeyed always ever onward on the way to the promised land.
For some, hametz is the category of things that make us falsely proud, that puffs us up like bread, and makes us think we are too important. Others see hametz as representing the bad parts of us, that we would rather not have. Some families donate their hametz to a local homeless shelter, soup kitchen or food pantry.
Hametz
The following foods are traditionally hametz and are considered off limits during Pesach: leavened bread, cakes, biscuits, crackers, cereals, coffee substitutes derived from cereals, wheat, barley, oats, rice, corn, peas, beans, and all liquids which contain ingredients or flavors from grain alcohol.
Passover 2023 is celebrated from Wednesday eve, April 5th - Thursday eve, April 13th
The Seders are held on Wednesday eve, April 5th and Saturday eve, April 6th
Shavuot
The Giving and Receiving
of the Torah
From the CD album “I Choose Torah”
by Rabbis Bruce and Donna Adler
I’ve got a memory deep inside of me of Sinai, Mt. Sinai
In my heart I feel all God once revealed on Sinai, Mt. Sinai.
To the Hebrew folk God came down and spoke on Sinai, Mt. Sinai
Ten commandments carved in rock God gave to guide his flock on Sinai, Mt. Sinai.
She’s not a mighty mountain she’s just a little peak
But when I think of her how high I can reach
Once way back in time I stood by the side of Sinai, Mt. Sinai.
People filled with awe pledged to keep God’s law on Sinai, Mt. Sinai
Ever since that stand I’ve been a mountain man, since Sinai, Mt. Sinai.
She’s not a mighty mountain she’s just a little peak
But when I think of her how high I can reach
Once way back in time I stood by the side of Sinai, Mt. Sinai.
The Holiday of Shavuot
Sivan 5-7 Eve of May 25th - Eve of May 27th 2023
Shavuot is the third of the pilgrimage festivals celebrated by Jews around the world. The first one, celebrated back in the fall, was Sukkot. The second was Pesach. Like Sukkot and Pesach, Shavuot is a major Jewish holiday.
One of the names for Shavuot is Z’man Matan Torateinu, “The time of the giving of our Torah.”
Tradition tells us that, on Shavuot, Moses received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai.
Then God spoke these words, saying:
1. I am the Lord, your God
2. You shall have no other gods before me
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother.
6. You shall not kill.
7. You shall not be unfaithful to wife or husband.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness.
10. You shall not desire what is your neighbor’s.
Why is the holiday of Shavuot called
The Time of the Giving of the Torah,
rather than The Time of the Receiving of the Torah?
Because the Torah was given only once, at Sinai,
on Shavuot. The receiving of the Torah is done
every single day, by each one of us.
On Shavuot, dairy dishes are prepared and blintzes
are especially popular. The custom of eating dairy
is attributed to the fact that Torah is often compared
to milk and honey, having the nourishment of the
former and the sweetness of the latter.
On Counting the Omer
In the days of the ancient Temple, when our ancestors were agricultural people, they brought an omer, or measure of barley, on the second day of Passover as a thanksgiving offering for the spring harvest. And on that day they began to count forty-nine days (seven complete weeks) to the Festival of Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, which marked the beginning of the wheat harvest.
By counting the days between Pesach and Shavuot, they also established a vital link between the two festivals: Pesach, which celebrates freedom, was connected with Shavuot, which celebrates the gift of Torah. And so our ancestors anticipated the teaching of the Sages that “only he is truly free who engages in the study of Torah.” Our ancestors were not yet fully free when they were liberated from Egypt. It was only when they stood at Sinai and accepted the Torah that they became truly free people.
As we count the Omer we pray that we be reminded of the importance of counting each day of our lives, and of striving to make each day count. Then we can give meaning to the prayer of the Psalmist: “Teach us to count our days so that we may acquire a heart of wisdom.”
