Summer Traditions at Midbar Kodesh Temple

Summer is upon us and with summer comes two traditions that I started at Midbar Kodesh Temple. The first is a summer book series. For the past couple of years we have taken a break from the regular book club to delve into books related specifically to Israel. The books are either written by Israeli authors or about Israel. This year we have chosen The Hill Top by Assaf Gavron and The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem by Sarit Yishai-Levi. We will discuss The Hill Top on July 10th and The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem on August 21st both at 10 AM. There will be bagels and coffee as well.

The second tradition is to have a sermon series. I like to devote 4-6 weeks of sermons to a theme that forces us to reflect on our lives and actions as we get ready for the High Holidays. This year the theme is Words That Hurt, Words that Heal based on a book by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin. We will begin the series on July 9, with The Unrecognizable Power of Words.

School may be out, the heat may be unbearable, but there is always time to connect with our culture and tradition.