Marcia Berneger

This week’s Torah portion (Va-Yera) begins with three men stopping to visit Abraham and Sarah. They might have been messengers of God or even God’s angels, coming to tell Abraham that Sarah would give birth to a son within one year. Because they are old, Sarah laughs at this idea, but the messengers assure them both it will happen. [Marcia Berneger]

  In this week’s Torah parshah we meet Abram and Sarai. (We’ll discover, in a bit, they are really Abraham and Sarah, our first Jewish ancestors.) God tells Abram to take his wife and family and move to a new place far away. [Marcia Berneger]

This week’s Parshah has two stories. The first is the story of Noah and the big flood. God tells Noah of the plan to “put an end to all flesh” because the earth is filled with lawlessness. God instructs Noah to build an ark and bring aboard his family and two of every animal on Earth, plus enough food to feed everyone. You’re probably familiar with the story. [Marcia Berneger]

By Marcia Berneger SAN DIEGO — The first book of the Torah begins with the Creation story. This story is read during Simchat Torah, the holiday celebrated last week that marks reading the end of the last book of the Torah and immediately starting over. (See last week’s description of the Creation story.) This week’s

By Marcia Berneger SAN DIEGO — As soon as Yom Kippur ends, preparations begin for a new holiday, for Sukkot is just around the corner. Many synagogues begin to build their sukkah the very next morning. This year, the week-long celebration of Sukkot begins on tonight, (October 2). This is a festive holiday that celebrates

Yom Kippur begins on Sunday evening. It is considered to be the most holy day of the Jewish year. It is the only holiday even more special than Shabbat. But what makes this one day so important? It is a day devoted to thinking; thinking about yourself, thinking about your friends and family, about the world, and about God. It is finding out how you fit in and what you can do to make this world a better place for everyone. [Marcia Berneger]

This weekend we will celebrate Rosh Hashana. This holiday, which starts on Friday evening, marks the beginning of the new Jewish year. One of the special things that happens on Rosh Hashana is the shofar is blown one hundred times. (This year, Rosh Hashana falls on Shabbat. The shofar is not usually blown on Shabbat.) The shofar calls to us: WAKE UP and work hard to make this year a better year than the last one. [Marcia Berneger]

This week’s Parshah is Nitzavim. That means “you stand” as in “you stand before God.” It begins as many of the Parashot in this part of the Torah, with warnings from God about what will happen if the people turn away and break their agreement with God. But, in this Parashah, there is almost the assumption that, once Moses dies, many people will, indeed, start breaking the laws. [Marcia Berneger]