Rabbi Guzik - A Bisl Torah

A recent Pew study finds that 80% of Americans believe in God and 9% of those that say they don’t, believe in some higher power. That is a pretty high percentage of people seeking something greater than themselves. It is...

Rabbi Sherman and I have developed a wonderful friendship with Pastor JP Foster from Faithful Central Bible Church, close by in Inglewood. Pastor Foster serves thousands and thousands of Christians; he spoke at our Orden Family MLK Shabbat, traveled to...

I stood in Auschwitz one year ago. Sinai Temple’s Sisterhood took members of our congregation to Poland on March of the Living. On the trip we met Holocaust survivors that implored us to understand how easily hatred seeps into the...

How do we translate the message of Passover into the reality of the everyday? Maimonides, in the Mishneh Torah, helps us in discovering an answer. He explains that in Leviticus 19:36 there are two seemingly disconnected ideas. The Torah speaks...

Every year I wonder what it is that someone should learn at the Passover seder. One might suggest that participants understand the entirety Passover story. Another might think that that every symbol be explained and the Haggadah deconstructed verse by...

How often do we see wrongdoing and do nothing about it? Examples abound: standing idle as others gossip about a friend, embarrassingly watching a waiter or waitress belittled by a patron or witnessing some kind of abuse and shrugging one’s...

Sometimes restraint is the biggest gift one can offer another. In this week’s Torah portion, the children of Israel contribute gifts to the building of the Tabernacle, the portable sanctuary in the desert. Overwhelmed with the abundance of giving, the...

We all lead incredibly busy lives. From appointment to appointment, errand to errand, this world exists with people racing from one moment to the next. I remember living in New York City, feeling overwhelmed by the tenor of real urban...

Do you need recognition? Are you being recognized for who you are and what you need? Tetzaveh, this week’s Torah portion, is the only parashah in the Torah since Moses’ birth in which his name does not appear. Commentators note...

It is with deep horror and sadness that our country mourns the deaths of children and teachers in Parkland, Florida, gunned down by a disturbed and mentally ill young man. People around the globe are left with no words and...