Rabbi Guzik - A Bisl Torah

My family and I went to see Paul Simon at the Hollywood Bowl. I grew up listening to Simon and Garfunkel, my father training our young ears as he drove us to and from school each day. When I found...

A few months ago, I engaged in a conversation with a retired member of our community. I was moving around the sanctuary, and it was clear to the member that I was running from one task to the next. He...

After your coffee, start your day with opportunity. I was recently in a conversation with a Bat Mitzvah student and she frequently used the word, “opportunity.” That to start her Bat Mitzvah studying and preparation was an opportunity. To have...

Our little guy, Henry learned how to jump out of his crib. At 4:00am, we heard the pitter- patter of little feet and there he was. Blonde curls, pajama clad, huge smile. I remember our other children slightly frightened at...

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...