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September 2018
School’s Started
Sunday School started on a hot, humid morning last week. I’m amazed every year at how fast the kids seem to grow over the summer.
To A Land That I Will Show You
Perhaps our Jewish future is like Schroedinger’s Cat: whether we live or die, thrive or decline, is a matter of perception. Abraham had to journey into the great Unknown: ‘el ha’aretz asher ar’echa’ – ‘to a land that I will show you’. He was called to draw on all his inner resources and vision in order to heed that vision.
Our Father’s House
This High Holiday cycle, we are exploring this verse as we try to understand and answer the charge of ‘veheyeh b’rachah’, of how we can be a blessing. Our previous sermonic journeys have forayed into the territory of the soul. ‘Lech lecha’ – we have ventured into ourselves, and reached for our deepest purpose because, as I said during my sermon for Shabbat Shuvah: we cannot live Jewish lives by instinct alone: we are called to make Judaism our own and ascribe to it a higher mission. When we discover how we want to shape our lives and take ownership of our Judaism, we can act with generosity, with confidence and hope, with love, with joy—and be a blessing.
Not All Who Wander Are Lost
What does it mean to go ‘from yourself, from your homeland, the place of your birth and your father’s house?’ Surely, the Torah could have sufficed in saying ‘lech m’artz’cha el ha’aretz asher ar’echa’ – ‘go from your land to the land that I will show you.’ We normally assume that the Torah’s language is efficient and focused, so if the Torah uses a more expanded syntax, it means we are called to read the text very closely. In fact, we are going to read it so closely that we are going to only look at ‘lech lecha’.
That’s right: this is a sermon about two words. Two words.
The Beginning of Blessing
Erev Rosh haShanah is a perfect time to contemplate beginnings and blessings, and endings, of course, as we bid goodbye to 5778 and welcome in 5779. For my family and myself, beginnings, blessings and endings have been intimately woven into our lives this past year. It is little over a year ago since we arrived and since I stood here on this bimah as your new Rabbi. This community has welcomed us open-heartedly in Iowa City. Your generosity, kindness, good humor and curiosity have been instrumental in the continued process of building our sacred relationship.
A Gift for Our Future Generations
As we enter Agudas Achim’s second century, we want to do everything possible to ensure the long-term stability and vitality of an organized Jewish Community in the greater Iowa City area. To do so, we need to develop something that this congregation has never had before: a financial safety net in the form of a substantial endowment: the Second Century Fund.
From The Rabbi
By Rabbi Esther Hugenholtz The hubbub of High Holidays preparations is in full swing – from polishing silver to formatting the schedule, practicing liturgy, checking the sound system to sermon writing. All my rabbinic friends and colleagues are bunkering down during this feverish month of Elul to create the most meaningful, beautiful and spiritual experience […]
Agudas Achim in The Forward
For Kathy Jacobs, the decision to join Agudas Achim Congregation wasn’t really much of a decision. The Coralville, Iowa synagogue was the only one within miles of Iowa City when Jacobs and her late husband moved to the area in 1998. This also meant that it wasn’t necessarily her decision to join a synagogue that offers dual denominations.
Our September News Bulletin is Available
Our September News Bulletin has been released. Read more about what’s going on in our congregation and community. Our Bulletin is published every month. Contact the office if you would like to be on the mailing list.
