Wilshire POV Wilshire Boulevard Temple

Despite the continued presence of “May Gray” in the mornings, summer is undeniably on its way. And as the weather warms, I’ve been reminded of a game that my cousins and I used to play in the summers growing up. Swimming in the pool, we would each take turns holding our breath and seeing how far we could swim underwater on that single breath. One by one we would swim as far as we could, and then stand in place to mark our distance. I always wanted to go last, because I found it easiest to kno...

This year, as we make our way through Passover, it feels as though we are in our own wilderness. We may feel secluded, without a real sense of direction, almost shell-shocked, as we view images and videos of these terrible campus protests, complete with anti-Israel sentiment, overt antisemitism, and a brewing storm of frustration, chaos, and anger.Each week, a member of the clergy offers their personal perspective on a topic of their choice, such as the week's Torah portion, a Jewish holiday,...

Each year, we perform bedikat chametz, searching and cleansing the house of bread products, as the first ritual of Passover. We go around to each shelf of the pantry, the refrigerator and freezer, and scrape away the crust that has built up over the last year to start fresh. This ritual acts as a spiritual cleansing as well, and it gives us concrete baby steps in this season of freedom: before we can liberate the world, we start by liberating our kitchens. Each week, a member of the cler...

The Story of Esther, with all of its twists and turns, knows this painful truth about life, and I believe our tradition gives us the keys to navigating the darkness around us. Each week, a member of the clergy offers their personal perspective on a topic of their choice, such as the week's Torah portion, a Jewish holiday, ritual, custom, or history. Facebook: Wilshire Boulevard TempleWebsite: wbtla.orgYoutube: Wilshire Boulevard TempleInstagram: wilshireboulevardtemple

A pillar of hope and a dark cloud frame Rabbi Joel Nickerson's Shabbat Message this week. Each week, a member of the clergy offers their personal perspective on a topic of their choice, such as the week's Torah portion, a Jewish holiday, ritual, custom, or history. Facebook: Wilshire Boulevard TempleWebsite: wbtla.orgYoutube: Wilshire Boulevard TempleInstagram: wilshireboulevardtemple

I was delighted to lead a micro-mission to Israel with 4 of our congregants. The trip was designed to coincide with the ceremony in which my 21 year old son completed basic training and received his red paratrooper’s beret from the IDF. With the many twists and turns of the ongoing war with Hamas, the ceremony was delayed by a week. The volunteering and solidarity mission healed small cracked fissures and filled my heart. So much so that I boarded the plane home on Monday knowing my son would...