From Our Rabbis

Another Pandemic Passover

By Rabbi Laurie Zimmerman

As I prepare for Passover, it’s hard to muster the energy for another Zoom seder. We have marked the one-year anniversary of the pandemic.

My memories of last March, just before most institutions shut down, are still vivid. On Monday, March 9, the Madison Jewish…

The Lessons We Learn from the Haggadah

By Rabbi Yona Matusof

I would like to share some thoughts on the Haggadah.

We start the Haggadah with the passage, “This is the bread of affliction . . . whoever is hungry, let him come and eat; whoever is in need, let him come and conduct the Seder of Passover.” Yet there is no potent…

Let’s Keep Our Pods – A Passover Lesson

By Rabbi Mendel Matusof

As we move slowly, with G-d’s help, away from the traumatic and stressful experiences of this past year, I’d like to suggest that we don’t leave everything behind. We may have discovered throughout all the pain and isolation, that there were certain things we n…

Now, We Prepare for Passover

By Rabbi Betsy Forester

With the festivities of Purim just past, Jews worldwide now set their sights on Pesach (Passover). We are thinking about the foods we will need, the house cleaning we would like to accomplish, and the Seder experiences we hope to celebrate.

Our weekly Torah readings…

Purim – When We Became Jews

By Rabbi Avremel Matusof

The word Jew (Yehudi in Hebrew) is a derivative of the name Judah (Yehudah), Jacob's fourth son; calling someone by this name would seemingly imply that the person is a descendant of that particular tribe. However, Jacob had twelve sons, progenitors of the Twelve Tr…