In the Jewish tradition, there’s a sense that everything gets moving as a result of a problem, a question, a Machloket in Hebrew. That even the most provocative question is still better than no question because, in the words of Rabbi Professor Donniel Hartman, questions, questioning, push at the limits of the sort of silent conspiracy of the way things have to be.
Passover 2018: The Seder as an Aspirational Calling
The Passover Seder is an opportunity, and by our great Sages, a mandated responsibility to reclaim a Jewish experience of depth, meaning, and relevancy in every generation.
MCJC invites you to our table as we carry on the tradition of hosting our Second Night Community Passover Seder at MCJC.
For more information, please check our calendar on this site. Click Here to RSVP.
The Sages of old spoke of Shabbat as a glimpse of the World to Come. A gift to us human beings from the Treasure-house of HaShem, The Divine.
All are welcome to bring in Shabbat with prayers, singing and a Kosher Shabbat dinner at the home of MCJC members Steve and Sharon Danzig. Steve and Sharon will prepare a traditional Kosher chicken dinner, just like Bubbe used to make, but even better!
We are past the RSVP date. However, if you do wish to participate, please contact Jill Purvin at events@mcjconline.org, or leave a message with the MCJC office at 815-455-1810, to help us plan.
NOTE: The MCJC building will be closed this Friday night.
The Sages of old spoke of Shabbat as a glimpse of the World to Come. A gift to us human beings from the Treasure-house of HaShem, The Divine.
All are welcome to a special Shabbat Service and a Kosher Shabbat dinner at the home of MCJC members Steve and Sharon Danzig.
Steve and Sharon will prepare a traditional Kosher chicken dinner, just like Bubbe used to make, but even better!
All you need to do is to RSVP by Friday, January 12, 2018, so that they can plan. Please RSVP to 815-455-1810 .
Living in the friction of being both the stranger and the resident, the Covenant of Destiny and the Covenant of Fate.
In the Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah, there is a saying: “The greatest revelation of Godliness is the light that emerges from the darkness.” Our sages were teaching us that our task as human beings is to uncover, to reveal, those sparks of light, of love and of kindness, that reside in each and every human being. To be a Jew, they teach, is to be like a star bringing light into those places, those moments of darkness, of despair. But stars do not eliminate the darkness. They only mitigate it. And this imagery is at the core of Chanukah. Winter looms. Days are getting shorter and nights longer. The moon has all but completely disappeared. All around us is darkness. And so, we light a small fire. On the first night of Hanukkah but one candle. Two on the second night. And so forth for eight nights. Our Menorah never brings an end to the dark- ness, but merely soften its effects. The Book of Proverbs tells us “The soul of man is the lamp of God,” (Proverbs 20:27). That we all have the potential to be those sparks of light. That no matter how fleeting, how precarious this light might be, it can help us to restore our hopes and our dreams.
The ancient Jewish process of Repentance, which in the Hebrew, Teshuvah, literally translates as “returning.” An intentional act of changing extant assumptions, habits, and patterns. In fact, Teshuva is not at all about repentance, but really a return, a journey home. Teshuvah is the longing, the yearning, the pining to return to that state of embracing our internalized God…
