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Posts by Rabbi Erez Sherman

Sacred Rest


Rabbi Shmuel Salanter would often be bombarded with questions of Jewish law and other matters concerning personal problems. His family became frustrated and told him that he must set aside special hours for receiving the public in order that he would have time for himself to rest.

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We Are All Israel


Last night, 1,000 people gathered in front of Beverly Hills City Hall for a powerful vigil to both bring memory to the six hostages murdered by Hamas, in the shiva period for those precious families, and a reminder that we must continue to use our voices and our actions to ensure the remaining hostages come home.

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Mitzvah


There is a debate as to what we receive from performing a mitzvah. We learn that the reward of a mitzvah is the ability to perform another mitzvah. And yet, we learn in Pirkei Avot, “The reward for a mitzvah is the mitzvah itself.”

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Taste Buds


Our taste buds change over time. Be it different delicacies that exist where you live and where you move throughout your life, your social circles of where you eat, or the will to try new things, we change what we eat and what we like.

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Blades of Grass


During the Yizkor service that we recite four times a year, on each pilgrimage festival along with Yom Kippur, the cantor chants the words from Isaiah, “Grass withers, flowers fade, when God’s breath blows on them, indeed, people are but grass.”

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Reliving the Past


As we begin the last book of the Torah, Deuteronomy, Moses begins recounting the journeys of the Jewish people. In the first verse, he mentions specific locations along the way. Rashi notices it is at these places in which the Israelites rebelled against God.

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Concealed Goodness


The three weeks before Tisha B’Av are known as ben hamtzarim, translated literally as, “Between the narrow straits.” The letters of metzarim are the same letters as mitzrayim, Egypt, which represents our deepest troubles in our history: generations enslaved.

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Young Thinkers


A rabbi must be proficient in speaking to different audiences. A bar mitzvah charge looks different than a wedding address. Teaching a Torah class is distinct from speaking to a group of a different faith.

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Blessings


We woke up to the news of a Houthi drone strike in the middle of the night in Downtown Tel Aviv. The explosion was heard around the city and beachgoers captured the footage on cell phones.

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