The Voice That Calls: Jewish Awakening in Our Time
Imagine being awakened at 4 AM by a voice calling you to something urgent, something that cannot wait for a more convenient hour. This is the essence of selichot – a voice that calls us from the comfortable darkness of spiritual slumber into the demanding light of self-examination and transformation. It is the voice that…
To Occupy or Not To Occupy Gaza
The morning of October 7, 2023, marked a watershed moment in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Hamas militants breached the Gaza-Israel…
The Miracle of Persistence: Lessons from a People Who Refuse to Disappear
In an age when entire civilizations have risen and fallen, when empires have crumbled to dust and languages have vanished…
The Modern Erev Rav: When Jewish Identity Becomes a Shield for Betrayal
At a time when Jewish unity, Ahavat Hinam vs. Sin’at Hinam (baseless love vs. baseless hatred), and acceptance of Klal…
Approaching encounters with curiosity and not with judgement
Teens across Israel and in Jewish communities throughout America participate in transformative encounters that shape their Jewish identity, their relationship…
“Rabbi Sinai performed the ceremony at our wedding. He was wonderful. Equally important, he took the time to get to know my wife and I before the wedding. We instantly felt at ease with him – he was sincere, caring, a great listener, and very knowledgeable. My wife and I consider Rabbi Sinai a friend…
In our search for a rabbi for our wedding my husband and I “interviewed” a number of rabbis to marry us – neither of us had been members of a synagogue in NYC but the choice and decision of who we were comfortable with was of utmost importance (we didn’t want “just anyone”). We were…
As soon as we got engaged, we knew we wanted Rabbi Sinai to officiate at our wedding. Leor brings a special kind of energy with him wherever he goes and in everything he does. He is warm, kind, intelligent and compassionate, and he eludes these qualities. When Leor sings, everyone wants to listen. When Leor…
My husband, Gil, and I were planning our wedding in Montego Bay, Jamaica when we found ourselves faced with the question of who was going to marry us. We were delighted when Rabbi Sinai informed us that he would absolutely be able to. He guided us through the whole planning of our ceremony. He made…
עוד מעט חודש עבר מאז החתונה ולא הספקנו להודות לך כיאות. חודש זה מספיק זמן לאסוף את כל המחמאות שקיבלנו על הטקס שערכת. התגובות שקיבלנו היו חיוביות משמחות ומרגשות שהעידו על טקס מיוחד במינו, אפילו מאלו שציפינו להתנגדות מצידם. מקווים שלא תכעס אך מספר הטלפון שלך הועבר לאלו שביקשו. אז תודה רבה רבה – גלי…
Living a Jewish life means living within a particular framework of rituals and experience, values and memories (i.e. we were slaves in Egypt) and guidelines (Jewish Law). Passover, a microcosm of Jewish life, requires a set of guidelines in preparation of the festival including the cleaning of “Hametz”, dietary constraints and of course the ‘Seder’…