Rabbi Michael Knopf answers the congregation’s Passover questions in this live Q&A. Recorded at Temple Beth-El’s virtual Pesah morning service on March 27, 2021.
Temple Beth-El is committed to leading people into growing relationships with Jewish community, wisdom, and practice that help them thrive intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually and that inspire them to build a more compassionate, just, and peaceful world. TBE Richmond Podcast is produced by Abby Miller. Our theme music is composed and produced by Stephen Frost. Learn more about our dynamic, warm, and passionate congregation, affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, at www.bethelrichmond.org.

Why do we celebrate Passover, ostensibly a “festival of freedom” by observing a rigid, stringent, and restrictive set of rules? Drawing a comparison between the biblical Exodus and Flood stories, Rabbi Michael Knopf discusses what the discipline of Passover teaches us about what it means to be free. Recorded at Temple Beth-El’s virtual Pesah morning service on March 28, 2021. Temple Beth-El is committed to leading people into growing relationships with Jewish community, wisdom, and practice that help them thrive intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually and that inspire them to build a more compassionate, just, and peaceful world. TBE Richmond Podcast is produced by Abby Miller. Our theme music is composed and produced by Stephen Frost. Learn more about our dynamic, warm, and passionate congregation, affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, at www.bethelrichmond.org.

What is our calling? Why are we here on this Earth? Rabbi Michael Knopf discusses what parashat Vayikra (March 20, 2021) and the Book of Leviticus teach about our purpose. Temple Beth-El is committed to leading people into growing relationships with Jewish community, wisdom, and practice that help them thrive intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually and that inspire them to build a more compassionate, just, and peaceful world. TBE Richmond Podcast is produced by Abby Miller. Our theme music is composed and produced by Stephen Frost. Learn more about our dynamic, warm, and passionate congregation, affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, at www.bethelrichmond.org.

Whether you're an online shopper or a yard sale savant, the past year has probably changed how you've related to the things in your space. Through the lens of the double parsha Vayakhel-Pekudei (March 13, 2021), TBE’s Student Rabbi in Residence Talia Kaplan offers perspective on the ways in which we can make room for the sacred. Temple Beth-El is committed to leading people into growing relationships with Jewish community, wisdom, and practice that help them thrive intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually and that inspire them to build a more compassionate, just, and peaceful world. TBE Richmond Podcast is produced by Abby Miller. Our theme music is composed and produced by Stephen Frost. Learn more about our dynamic, warm, and passionate congregation, affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, at www.bethelrichmond.org.

Whether you're an online shopper or a yard sale savant, the past year has probably changed how you've related to the things in your space. Through the lens of the double parsha Vayakhel-Pekudei (March 13, 2021), TBE’s Student Rabbi in Residence Talia Kaplan offers perspective on the ways in which we can make room for the sacred. Temple Beth-El is committed to leading people into growing relationships with Jewish community, wisdom, and practice that help them thrive intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually and that inspire them to build a more compassionate, just, and peaceful world. TBE Richmond Podcast is produced by Abby Miller. Our theme music is composed and produced by Stephen Frost. Learn more about our dynamic, warm, and passionate congregation, affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, at www.bethelrichmond.org.

In Parashat Ki Tissa, we encounter the infamous episode of the Golden Calf. What does this story say about us, and what does it teach about God? In this episode (recorded at Temple Beth-El’s virtual Shabbat morning service on March 6, 2021), TBE member Dr. Gary Goldberg discusses “the unbearable grace from the face and the trace left behind by the loving, living, God”, in a Dvar Torah inspired by the medieval mystic Rabbi Isaac Luria, the 20th-century French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, and contemporary sage Rabbi Yitz Greenberg.
Temple Beth-El is committed to leading people into growing relationships with Jewish community, wisdom, and practice that help them thrive intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually and that inspire them to build a more compassionate, just, and peaceful world. TBE Richmond Podcast is produced by Abby Miller. Our theme music is composed and produced by Stephen Frost. Learn more about our dynamic, warm, and passionate congregation, affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, at www.bethelrichmond.org.

In Parashat Ki Tissa, we encounter the infamous episode of the Golden Calf. What does this story say about us, and what does it teach about God? In this episode (recorded at Temple Beth-El’s virtual Shabbat morning service on March 6, 2021), TBE member Dr. Gary Goldberg discusses “the unbearable grace from the face and the trace left behind by the loving, living, God”, in a Dvar Torah inspired by the medieval mystic Rabbi Isaac Luria, the 20th-century French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, and contemporary sage Rabbi Yitz Greenberg.
Temple Beth-El is committed to leading people into growing relationships with Jewish community, wisdom, and practice that help them thrive intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually and that inspire them to build a more compassionate, just, and peaceful world. TBE Richmond Podcast is produced by Abby Miller. Our theme music is composed and produced by Stephen Frost. Learn more about our dynamic, warm, and passionate congregation, affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, at www.bethelrichmond.org.

In Parashat Tetzaveh, we learn about the intricacies associated with priestly breastplates, and how each stone and inscription has a key role in the beauty and completeness of the piece. In this episode (recorded before Temple Beth-El’s virtual Shabbat morning service on February 27, 2021), TBE member Sherrina Gibson interviews Dr. Sarah Kranz-Ciment, physical therapist and disability advocate, in honor of Jewish Disability Inclusion Month. The pair discuss how each member of our community is a precious gem, key to the mosaic that is our holy community.
Temple Beth-El is committed to leading people into growing relationships with Jewish community, wisdom, and practice that help them thrive intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually and that inspire them to build a more compassionate, just, and peaceful world. TBE Richmond Podcast is produced by Abby Miller. Our theme music is composed and produced by Stephen Frost. Learn more about our dynamic, warm, and passionate congregation, affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, at www.bethelrichmond.org.

In Parashat Tetzaveh, we learn about the intricacies associated with priestly breastplates, and how each stone and inscription has a key role in the beauty and completeness of the piece. In this episode (recorded before Temple Beth-El’s virtual Shabbat morning service on February 27, 2021), TBE member Sherrina Gibson interviews Dr. Sarah Kranz-Ciment, physical therapist and disability advocate, in honor of Jewish Disability Inclusion Month. The pair discuss how each member of our community is a precious gem, key to the mosaic that is our holy community.
Temple Beth-El is committed to leading people into growing relationships with Jewish community, wisdom, and practice that help them thrive intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually and that inspire them to build a more compassionate, just, and peaceful world. TBE Richmond Podcast is produced by Abby Miller. Our theme music is composed and produced by Stephen Frost. Learn more about our dynamic, warm, and passionate congregation, affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, at www.bethelrichmond.org.

From God’s commandment to Moses and the Israelites to build a sanctuary in the wilderness, to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, to our own synagogue, what does Parashat Trumah teach about building sacred space then and now? In this episode (recorded at Temple Beth-El’s virtual Shabbat morning service on February 20, 2021), special guest speaker and chair of TBE’s “Building for Our Next 90 Years” campaign, Frances Goldman, connects the Torah portion with plans for making Temple Beth-El as glorious 90 years from now as it has been for its first 90 years. And Rabbi Knopf explores how the images of angels in the Tabernacle’s design were meant to remind us to look beyond ourselves toward something greater, much like NASA’s Persistence rover, which recently landed on Mars.

Temple Beth-El is committed to leading people into growing relationships with Jewish community, wisdom, and practice that help them thrive intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually and that inspire them to build a more compassionate, just, and peaceful world. TBE Richmond Podcast is produced by Abby Miller. Our theme music is composed and produced by Stephen Frost. Learn more about our dynamic, warm, and passionate congregation, affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, at www.bethelrichmond.org.