Rabbi Guzik - A Bisl Torah

A special message from Rabbi Nicole Guzik   I understand that many of us feel afraid. But, what exactly do we fear? No answers. An inability to know when this will end. It is the unknown that feels shaky. Living...

I recently led a few discussions, asking, “When was a time you hid something about yourself?” I found myself hearing the following responses:   -I hide that people hurt my feelings because I don’t want to upset anyone.  -I hide...

  It’s been a busy week. Programs, meetings, teachings, a chaotic schedule. All of which leads to late nights, writing emails and rushed dinners. As I settled into the couch, ready to play catch up with my computer, an eight...

  It is common for a rabbi to be familiar with death. When someone in the synagogue passes away, our hearts grow heavy, for community becomes akin to family. We discuss mourning rituals, theology, and ways to help loved ones...

We try to read with our children at night. Each kid chooses a book and as part of the bedtime ritual, we wind down with stories about dinosaurs or Lego characters. For the very first time, our kindergartner said, “Let...

Around this time of year, the secular world prepares for an influx of chocolates, palettes of red and pink, roses, and a scurrying to secure both a date and restaurant reservation for February 14th. While we remember that Valentine’s Day...

This week, I met with a bar mitzvah family to discuss the upcoming simcha. In the middle of our conversation, we were interrupted by running feet and talkative voices coming through the wall. I explained that my office is adjacent...

When preparing challah for Shabbat, we separate a piece of dough, reminiscent of the offering given to the Kohanim. While the act connects us to thousands of years of tradition, there is also something liberating about separating in order to...

  This week, the world lost someone incredibly special. Hedy Orden was a pillar of our community, someone whom despite every odd placed against her, built a legacy of hope for the Jewish world. Surviving the atrocities of the Holocaust,...

Recently, thousands of people around the world finished daf yomi. Daf yomi is a seven and a half year cycle of reading a page of Talmud every single day. The idea is that the world is connected through a prism...