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Congregation B'nai Israel Blog

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Marci Bloch

Dear Friends, Today in my Women’s Torah Commentary class, several women commented on the amazing students that graduate from our religious school program at Congregation ...

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Marci Bloch

Dear Friends, Last Shabbat we had our Bar/Bat Yisrael 12th grade graduation.This is when our seniors in our School for Living Judaism complete their studies at Congregation ...

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Marci Bloch

Dear Friends, In the Torah portion we read this week, parashat Emor *, we learn that any high priest with a physical defect is unqualified to officiate publicly in the ...

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Marci Bloch

Dear Friends, Last year I had the opportunity to visit Independence Hall in Tel Aviv with our Confirmation Class. In all my trips to Israel prior, unfortunately I had ...

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Rabbi Marci Bloch Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Marci Bloch

Dear Friends, For the past seven years, I have been teaching Comparative Judaism to our 9th grade religious school students on Tuesday nights.The first day of class I always ...

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Rabbi Marci Bloch's Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Bloch

Dear Friends, On the second night of Passover Jewish people around the world started counting. According to the Torah, we count each day from Passover to Shavuot and this is ...

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Rabbi Marci Bloch's Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Marci Bloch

Dear Friends, We are now only a few days away from Pesach. People all over are cleaning out their homes and thinking about their Passover menu. There is last minute ...

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Rabbi Bloch's Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Marci Bloch

Dear Friends, The last few weeks I’ve been helping a dear friend prepare to be a staff member on the March of the Living. The March of the Living is a trip where thousands of ...

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Rabbi Marci Bloch's Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Marci Bloch

Dear Friends, Throughout my life, I have been asked numerous times if I could meet a famous person from the past then who would it be? Even when I was applying for my ...

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Rabbi Marci Bloch's Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Marci Bloch

Dear Friends, First, I want to wish you a Chag Purim Sameach or Happy Purim. Tonight we began the holiday of Purim. At synagogue tonight, our children were dressed in all ...

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Rabbi Marci Bloch's Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Marci Bloch

Dear Friends, In this weeks Torah portion, Parashat Tetzaveh we learn about the ner tamid. According to the text, it is the lamp that needs to be lit regularly in the ...

Friday, February 24, 2012

Rabbi Marci Bloch's Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Marci Bloch

Dear Friends, I have always been interested in health and science since I was a very young age. In fact, during college, I was a pre-med major. Coming from a very medical ...

Friday, February 17, 2012

Rabbi Marci Bloch's Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Marci Bloch

Dear Friends, I was inspired this week by this story and I wanted to share it with you: Tolstoy tells a story about a cobbler named Martin who despaired life and yearned to ...

Friday, February 10, 2012

Rabbi Marci Bloch's Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Marci Bloch

Dear Friends, This past Wednesday was the holiday of Tu B'shevat. This holiday is known as Jewish Arbor Day or the birthday of the trees. In religious schools and preschools ...

Friday, February 3, 2012

Rabbi Bloch Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Marci Bloch

Dear Friends, A few weeks ago I was in Sedona. Out on a short hike, I learned about a plant called an agave plant. Apparently, they are very well known in Arizona. Many ...

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Rabbi Marci Bloch's Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Marci Bloch

Dear Friends, In the past few weeks I have been sent the same YouTube video from several members of our congregation and from friends and colleagues. I'm hoping that the ...

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Rabbi Marci Bloch's Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Marci Bloch

Dear Friends, This past week I was in Arizona. There I had the opportunity to learn with several colleagues from rabbinical school and with a Professor from Hebrew ...

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Rabbi Marci Bloch's Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Marci Bloch

Dear Friends, A few days ago, as I was cleaning around my house, I came across the booklet that was given out at my rabbinical school ordination. Similar to a graduation ...

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Rabbi Bloch's Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Marci Bloch

Dear Friends, Today I spent some time with a friend trying to see if we could come up with the top ten stories that happened in 2011. We immediately came up with the ...

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Rabbi Bloch's Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Marci Bloch

If you ask any Jewish child what the holiday of Chanukah is about, usually they will throw out the words such as presents, latkes, menorahs, driedels, and gelt. Sometimes ...

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Rabbi Bloch's Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Marci Bloch

Dear Friends, I woke up this morning to learn that a distant relative had passed away. Her name was Helen. I didn’t have that many interactions with her in my life, but the ...

Friday, December 2, 2011

Rabbi Bloch Thought of The Week

Posted By: Rabbi Bloch

Dear Friends, A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to see the movie J Edgar. When I left the movie theater, I went home and spent some time on Google trying to remind ...

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Rabbi Marci Bloch's Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Marci Bloch

Dear Friends, I asked our pre-K students last week if Thanksgiving is an American or Jewish holiday. Some raised their hands with certainty that it is an American holiday. ...

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Rabbi Marci Bloch's Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Marci Bloch

Dear Friends, At my former congregation in Indianapolis, I met a very special woman who was in the process of converting. Her name is Jennifer. When it came to learning ...

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Rabbi Bloch's Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Bloch

Dear Friends, When I was in college, I vividly remember my brother telling my mother how difficult things were at work and how dissatisfied he was with his chosen ...

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Rabbi Bloch's Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Bloch

With Halloween soon approaching, I’ve been asked some interesting questions this past week. One question I was asked is if Jews believe in angels. I know that many of us are ...

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Rabbi Bloch's Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Bloch

I love the movies. It almost doesn’t matter what genre it is---drama, comedy, independent, romantic, adventure, or action. It is one of my favorite things to do. I find it ...

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Rabbi Bloch's Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Bloch

Dear Friends, I hope you are enjoying the holidays. Here is another quote for you to reflect on as we prepare for Yom Kippur: "Man alone, of all the creatures of the ...

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Rabbi Bloch's Thought of the Week 9/28/11

Posted By: Rabbi Bloch

For my thought of the week, I just wanted to give you a quote to reflect on as we prepare for Rosh Hashanah tonight. Nachman of Bratslav said “If you won’t be better ...

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Rabbi Bloch's Thought of the Week

Posted By: Rabbi Bloch

It is a tree of life for those who hold fast to it, and all its supporters are happy...Proverbs 3:18: Siddur Dear Friends, This past Shabbat, my family and I celebrated my ...

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