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Congregation B'nai Israel of St.Petersburg
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Presidential Messages

The most precious thing is to be alive

07/31/2020 09:41:42 AM

Jul31

Dear Friends,

In April of 2020,  Idaho State Representative Heather Scott stated that limiting people’s access during this Covid-19 pandemic was comparable to what happened to Jews during the Holocaust. Jewish groups and Holocaust survivors alike were outraged by this totally outlandish statement because quite simply mass murder and genocide is not the same as decisions that, while restrictive, are made so as...Read more...

Am I My Brother's Keeper

07/23/2020 10:35:11 PM

Jul23

Dear friends,

In a stomach-turning scene in the movie, ”Marathon Man”, Dr. Christian Szell performs dental torture on the young protagonist  while continuously asking “is it safe?“ While neither a dentist nor a torturer the question is one that is asked both of me and by me on a daily basis.

Why are we being so cautious some ask. The medical experts that I speak with wonder how we could even think about allowing a...Read more...

Normalcy in a World Gone Haywire

07/17/2020 10:42:40 AM

Jul17

Dear Friends,

Despite living in a world of shifting sand, the calendar calls upon us to direct our focus to High Holiday Planning. Definitive decisions about In-person, virtual, or a combination of both are in flux because of the ever-rising Covid-19 numbers and the resulting uncertainty of what will happen in the weeks and months ahead of us. What we do know however, is that there will be a New Year and that each of us must be...Read more...

Who are you?

07/10/2020 12:03:51 PM

Jul10

Dear Friends,

Not that many years ago Elizabeth and I rented an apartment in Venice, Italy for a month where we hosted 2 of our closest friends from N.Y.C. for a week. In but a number of hours after their arrival one of our friends became totally transformed by the city, to the point where her wife leaned across the dinner table from her and asked; “Who are You?”  For years the retelling of that story has made us laugh. ...Read more...

When I was an undergraduate student

07/02/2020 01:23:07 PM

Jul2

I am somewhat reluctant to confess that when I was an undergraduate student I majored in History. I think I redeemed myself with my minors in English and the Greek Classics, but I am not sure.   At the time, it seemed like a natural discipline for me to engage with since I had grown up enthralled with the stories of life in Prague, Cracow, and Vienna before WWII along with the stories of our Jewish people throughout the ages. While every...Read more...

The Differences Between Us

06/12/2020 09:37:08 AM

Jun12

Dear Friends,

“Don’t ask don’t tell.” “I’m totally color blind.” “That’s funny, you don’t look Jewish.” “Wow! You don’t behave anything like those other people.” Is there a theme here? I think there is! In this society being different is not a positive. Yet the world is inhabited by billions of people who are different from each other. Originally, all of those different people were not...Read more...

Thu, April 18 2024 10 Nisan 5784