
Rabbi Guzik - A Bisl Torah
December 23, 2016
For years I was inundated with the term, “The December Dilemma.” For Jewish kids, there was or perhaps is an ingrained notion that celebrating Channukah is inferior and less exciting than celebrating Christmas. And so Channukah became commercialized, more gift...
December 16, 2016
Ok…there’s another birthday in the Guzik-Sherman household. Our first born is turning five. An entire hand. I was thinking about the number five in our tradition. The five books of Moses. The chamsa—five fingers that symbolize God’s protective hand; a...
December 9, 2016
Many of you know that in March my husband is running the Jerusalem marathon. When he runs the streets of Los Angeles, he refuses to wear headphones, always trying to be aware of the landscape and environment around him. The...
December 2, 2016
Every Thursday I take my 10 month old to a wonderful Parent n’ Me class through the Sinai Akiba Parenting Center. Our teacher, Julia Kantor, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist engages our babies through play, story, observation and song....
November 25, 2016
There are high hopes, high expectations around the holidays. Perfecting recipes, reuniting with loved ones and good friends, spending quality time together and reflecting on what you’re most grateful for. But then you wake up and remember, nothing goes as...
November 18, 2016
Rushing has become normative behavior. We rush to work, rush to put dinner on the table, rush to finish the chores, and rush to meet a deadline. Funny thing is, rushing doesn’t necessarily mean productivity. Often the faster we work,...
November 14, 2016
This week has been difficult and emotionally exhausting for our country. No matter where we stand on the political spectrum, no matter whom we voted for, it is clear there is a deep seeded fear of the “other”. The objection...
November 4, 2016
Admittedly, I am not what you would call a “sports enthusiast.” Although I loved playing basketball in high school, I rarely follow sports statistics and never purposefully schedule time to watch events on television. That being said, my husband introduced...
October 28, 2016
As we once again start at the beginning of the Torah, some of my favorite pieces of midrash (rabbinic stories) emerge from our tradition. A gem from Genesis Rabbah: God’s creation of heaven and earth can be compared to the...
October 21, 2016
Last night congregants invited us over to dine in their beautiful sukkah. The food was delicious, company was great and our children enjoyed playing together. But the best part of the evening was when our host gathered his daughters onto...

Rabbi Nicole Guzik