Rabbi Sherman - Honorable Mensch-ion

Last week, I met with a Catholic middle school student who had an assignment to learn about Judaism. She arrived prepared with a list of questions about belief, ritual, and history. We toured the sanctuary, looked at different Torahs, and...

On my way to my office this week, I stopped in to a Sinai Akiba Academy guest lecturer, children’s author and illustrator, Bryan Collier. He explained to the children that each one of them is an artist in his or...

On Yom Kippur afternoon, we read from the book of Vayikra, the holiness code. As we concluded, the honor of dressing the Torah was given to a young 7 year old boy named Eli. As he placed the crowns on...

The following piece was included in this week’s Jewish Journal. Here is a rabbinic secret. Each year before Yom Kippur, rabbis send an e-mail, asking a simple question: “Has anyone compiled a list of notable deaths for the past year?”...

A woman proudly hung on her mantelpiece a plaque that read, “Prayer Changes Things.” A few days later, the plaque was missing from its place. The woman asked her husband if he had seen it. “I took it down, I...

Last night, I had the opportunity to meet new members of Sinai Temple. I asked a simple question, “What is your most formative Jewish experience?” Each answer given was more powerful than the next. For one, it was the death...

18 is Chai. It means life, a time to celebrate. But 18 years ago, the world changed. I am amazed at how quickly the years fly by, feeling as if I just wrote this same message yesterday, and the day...

Our family spent Labor Day at the Santa Monica beach, teaching our children to boogie board and build sand castles. A man sat in the car next to us as we arrived, filming a documentary. Out of curiosity, I asked...

We are commanded when we appear before God on the three festival holidays not to be empty handed. Give what we can give, but give we must. While this must be taken literally in the times of the Temple, it...

We are required to recite birkat hamazon, grace after meals, after we eat a k’zayit, the amount of an olive. The Torah teaches, achalta vasavata, uverachta, we should eat and be satisfied, and then we should bless. There are two...