by Rabbi David Lyon | Mar 3, 2022 | Uncategorized
The atrocities. The bombing. The destruction. Russia’s Putin is fighting a war in the 21st century with strategies left over from the 20th. While the rest of the world learned lessons that were supposed to prevent this from ever happening again, Russia ignored them....
by Rabbi David Lyon | Feb 17, 2022 | Uncategorized
At the end of last month, an opinion writer for the New York Times, wrote on “Why Churches Should Drop their Online Services.” Thankfully, Tish Harrison Warren, a priest in the Anglican Church in North America, wasn’t speaking for synagogues, though her opinion caught...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Feb 10, 2022 | Uncategorized
This past week, you expressed compassion and kindness for more than a few families that were grieving, including mine. Lisa’s father died and was laid to rest in Tucson. For every family that faced grief, we comforted them with memories, stories, and shared...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Feb 3, 2022 | Uncategorized
If I were a Broadway critic, I’d have only one word to say, “Tremendous!” If I had two words to say, I’d say, “Bravo! Brava!” Congregation Beth Israel’s “Telling Our Stories: Where Tradition & Broadway Intersect” was a stellar accomplishment. Underwritten by the...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Jan 27, 2022 | Uncategorized
This past week, we observed International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and a week ago, Tu B’shvat. International Holocaust Remembrance Day marked the 77th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Years have passed but the indelible memories and hard lessons endure....
by Rabbi David Lyon | Jan 20, 2022 | Uncategorized
If life imitates art, then this past weekend closely followed the bondage we read about in Torah on Shabbat, and the redemption celebrated by the Israelites who went free at last. But life shouldn’t imitate art; it should learn from art and draw new lines of...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Jan 13, 2022 | Uncategorized
This week’s Torah portion is called Beshalach (Exodus 13:17-17:16), and it contains the Song of the Sea. It’s the victory song sung by the Israelites after they emerged from slavery in Egypt. The famous Biblical scenes are probably more familiar to us from Hollywood...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Jan 6, 2022 | Uncategorized
Have you had enough already? Have you reached your limit? If it isn’t COVID-19 and one of its variants, then it’s supply chain delays and economic insecurity. When will it let up? What is its expiration date? In the book of Exodus, we find the Israelites in the throes...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Dec 22, 2021 | Uncategorized
This past week, Beth Israel’s COVID Taskforce met to review what we can know about COVID-19 and its breakthrough variants, including Omicron. We care about your well-being, and we take very seriously the partnership between faith and science. Having weighed the data...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Dec 16, 2021 | Uncategorized
The book of Genesis ends this week with the portion called Vayechi. Next week we’ll begin the book of Exodus. Between the pages, we’ll say, “Hazak, Hazak, V’nitchazek,” Be strong, be strong, and let us strengthen each other. These words of strength express our...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Dec 9, 2021 | Uncategorized
Thirty years ago, we witnessed the horror taking place at Tiananmen Square. On television, we had first-row seats to the unbelievable sight of tanks bearing down on a student protestor and the brutality of the Communist regime against democracy seekers. Their...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Dec 2, 2021 | Uncategorized
The only miracle we celebrate at this season is the victory of the Maccabees over their foes and the oil that lasted eight nights. The story is about our resilience to honor our tradition and faith under all circumstances. But there is no victory in a pandemic that...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Nov 18, 2021 | Uncategorized
In the New York Times, David Leonhardt once wrote an op-ed about the importance of enjoying a “tech-less” Thanksgiving. The point was to preserve the meaning of the holiday without interruptions from phones and tablets that take time away from expressing gratitude for...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Nov 4, 2021 | Uncategorized
I first began to learn the laws of physics in middle school. I was intrigued by Newton’s Third Law: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In the interest of science, we conducted experiments to demonstrate its truth. But as a budding rabbi,...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Oct 28, 2021 | Uncategorized
Three years ago, a lone gunman walked into Tree of Life Synagogue, in Pittsburgh, and murdered and injured worshipers in the synagogue. The horrifying news spread around the world, but it left the deepest impressions on Jewish communities. If it can happen in America,...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Oct 21, 2021 | Uncategorized
Incidents of antisemitism are rising dramatically. There are myriad reasons why it’s rising. There are age-old reasons: old canards, ignorance, gross misrepresentations, and pure hate. But if we look closely, we’ll discover new reasons. Recently, in Carroll ISD, in...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Sep 30, 2021 | Uncategorized
Our Judaism teaches, “All beginnings are hard.” It’s true. If it’s really a new beginning, then we’ve never done it in the past. We can only bring some life experience with us and do our best. But we can’t know with absolute certainty what the experience will be or...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Sep 23, 2021 | Uncategorized
Sukkot is one of my favorite holidays. It’s part of the season called Z’man Simchatienu, the “Season of our Joy.” Sukkot is purposely joyful to follow Yom Kippur’s solemn mood. In Leviticus 23:40ff, we learn to spend time in a sukkah, take up the four species (etrog,...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Aug 19, 2021 | Uncategorized
On Sunday, August 15th, we observed the first yahrtzeit anniversary of Rabbi Samuel E. Karff’s death. Many of us will say, “I can’t believe it’s already been a year.” In fact, it’s been a lifetime of memories with a rabbi, scholar, friend, and guide who made an...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Aug 12, 2021 | Uncategorized
I was watching late TV recently. I found a channel with an evangelical preacher carrying on about virtue and sin. I know something about the subject, too, so I tuned it to see what he knew. Apparently, he knew a lot more than I did. He spoke with absolute certainty...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Jul 22, 2021 | Uncategorized
It’s good to step away and it’s good to return. The time that you afforded me to step away and recharge my batteries also enabled me to return this week ready for a sweet New Year. I wrote you earlier about my planned trips. They all came to pass, and they were...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Jul 8, 2021 | Uncategorized
Since last time I wrote about our two chickens, “Light Meat” and “Dark Meat,” much has happened. We learned a lot about chickens. Free-range chickens are in vogue, but they tear into your grass, plants, and shrubs, to find their favorite morsels. And according to...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Jun 17, 2021 | Uncategorized
Some years ago, Rabbi Karff and I saw each other in the hallway at Temple and we began to catch up with each other, as we often did. First, a big hug, and then time to chat. He told me about his schedule and plans, and I told him about mine. He said he didn’t envy my...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Jun 3, 2021 | Uncategorized
Suddenly, the calls and emails stopped. As the cease-fire held in the Middle East, and other news filled the headlines and newsfeeds, everyone’s heads turned in a new direction. Out of sight is out of mind, but it isn’t; not for those of us who understand what’s at...
by Rabbi David Lyon | May 27, 2021 | Uncategorized
The word “mitzvah” means commandment. It’s also a “good deed,” because every mitzvah, whether it’s a positive or negative commandment, leads us to goodness. For example, “Honor your father and your mother,” or “Do not put a stumbling block before the blind,” are...
by Rabbi David Lyon | May 20, 2021 | Uncategorized
I stepped outside this morning to walk the dog in the front yard. As I stood there, my next-door neighbor pulled into his driveway. We greeted each other, as usual, but this time with added words of mutual concern about the crisis in the Middle East. My neighbor is...
by Rabbi David Lyon | May 13, 2021 | Uncategorized
Dear Friends, The situation in Israel is critical, again. The media isn’t our only eye-witness account. Our friends and family in Israel are reporting exactly what’s happening in their own words and with personal pictures. We also learned about events on the ground in...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Apr 29, 2021 | Uncategorized
Who hasn’t felt jealous on occasion? A normal human being feels pangs of jealousy. It happens when we’re young and it can happen when we’re older, too. When we’re young, jealousy begins between siblings. It might go badly between them but there might also be lessons...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Apr 23, 2021 | Uncategorized
The double Torah portion this week includes Kedoshim, beginning in Leviticus 19. It’s a favorite portion of Torah and Leviticus, because it begins with what is called the “Holiness Code.” In Leviticus 19:2, we read, “You shall be holy for, I, the Lord, Your God, am...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Apr 15, 2021 | Uncategorized
This past week, Congregation Beth Israel’s Wolff-Toomim Distinguished Lecture Series hosted on Zoom, Anne Applebaum, journalist and author, and Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat. In conversation, Anne responded to questions that were framed by her recent book, “Twilight of...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Apr 1, 2021 | Uncategorized
What is freedom? Passover teaches us that freedom is liberation from bondage and then revelation at Sinai. There is no freedom without liberation and there is no life without revelation. Torah teaches, “For [Torah] is your life and the length of your days”...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Mar 18, 2021 | Uncategorized
Passover begins next week on the evening of Saturday, March 27, 2021. The theme of liberation from bondage seems entirely apropos after a year of pandemic lockdown and isolation. Though hardly as bad as 430 years of slavery in Egypt under the heavy hand of taskmasters...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Mar 4, 2021 | Uncategorized
The holiday of Purim ended last week, but not the fuss about wearing masks. Masks would have greater appeal if they were always bedazzled as they are for Purim, but ordinary masks for life-saving reasons are sterile, cold, and political. Just as we removed our Purim...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Feb 25, 2021 | Uncategorized
Be Happy, it’s ADAR! It’s Purim time, and Adar is the Hebrew month in which we celebrate the holiday. When the month begins, we’ve been taught to say, “When Adar enters, joy increases!” In history, Purim was a festive holiday that provided a place in the Jewish...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Feb 12, 2021 | Uncategorized
In 1844, when the Houston Jewish community was beginning to organize itself more formally, Jewish leaders purchased land for a cemetery. Traditionally, it’s among the first formal steps that a Jewish community takes even before organizing a formal synagogue. Why?...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Feb 4, 2021 | Uncategorized
In a world filled with hurt and hate, faith can lead us to many positive outcomes. In the Abrahamic traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), our respective pathways to one God are particular, but they are not exclusive. We are all the progeny of one first man and...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Jan 28, 2021 | Uncategorized
This past week, we observed International Holocaust Remembrance Day and Tu B’shvat. International Holocaust Remembrance Day also marked the 76th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Years have passed but the indelible memories and hard lessons endure. The...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Jan 21, 2021 | Uncategorized
The inauguration of President Biden and Vice-President Harris was a momentous occasion. Ultimately, it was a peaceful transition of power that signaled to our nation and the nations of the world that the United States and its democratic principles, its institutions,...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Jan 7, 2021 | Uncategorized
We’re all finding our breath after watching the chaos that ensued in the nation’s capital. We have all felt tension before, during, and after the election, but nothing could have prepared us for what occurred yesterday, when marauders took aim at our Democracy and...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Dec 31, 2020 | Uncategorized
Dear 2021, You’re new on the scene. You have no idea what we’ve been through this past year. I won’t even write the past year’s number, because it shouldn’t get anymore PR. I prefer to begin by welcoming you with open arms, though from a distance, because that’s just...
by astoundz | Dec 10, 2020
Featuring Eric K. Ward Register at Tinyurl.com/Friedlander-Ward2020
by Rabbi David Lyon | Dec 3, 2020 | Uncategorized
The first night of Chanukah is Thursday night, December 10th! In the darkness of the evening, one small candle plus the shammash (lead candle) can hardly brighten the space around the Menorah. It reminds me of the rabbinic lesson, “All beginnings are hard.” But, then...
by astoundz | Dec 2, 2020
Being that 2020 is an unique and challenging year, volunteering in person is not a reality . We have worked diligently on your behalf with Ronald McDonald house to share some options to choose from, which are rewarding and safe and for some of them, you will never...
by astoundz | Nov 30, 2020
The Membership Engagement Committee invites you to join them for their first online Oneg! Join them online December 11th at 7:30 PM after the Chanukah Service. All guests will be entered to win one of our famous Pull-A-Part Cakes! Zoom Link below!...
by astoundz | Nov 30, 2020
The Membership Engagement Committee invites you to join our own Marsha Gilbert for an online demonstration of her mother’s famous latke recipe! To Register, please contact Liza Hirsch at LHirsch@beth-israel.org Zoom Link will be sent
by astoundz | Nov 20, 2020
Chanukah Car Celebration December 6, 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM We have treats and goodies to help you celebrate Chanukah! Please drive by the temple on December 6th to pick up your goody bag and say hello to the Rabbis, Cantor and staff! Sisterhood Gift Shop will also...
by Rabbi David Lyon | Nov 13, 2020 | Uncategorized
Never have I witnessed such a thing and neither have you. Years ago, when I was a boy in the 1970’s, I watched President Nixon announce his final words after resigning from office and then departing from the White House on a helicopter. With his signature victory...
by astoundz | Nov 5, 2020
RSVP to KZerlin@beth-israel.org
by astoundz | Nov 5, 2020
by Rabbi David Lyon | Nov 5, 2020 | Uncategorized
God of holiness, we hear Your message: Justice, justice, you shall pursue (Deut. 16). God of freedom, we hear Your charge: Proclaim liberty throughout the land (Lev. 25). Inspire us through Your teachings and commandments to love, and uphold our precious democracy....
