During the High Holy Days, thousands of people will join us in person and virtually for what we hope is a warm, welcoming, and smooth experience...but to make that happen, our entire clergy, staff, and board of trustees are working hard to prepare every detail. In this episode we take a portable microphone around to capture some of the behind-the-scenes energy from your Temple team in the final days before Rosh Hashanah 5782!

Please note that we will resume new episodes after Yom Kippur!

We continue to reflect on Elul and the High Holy Days with a mix of reflection and humor. With the help of a 10 year old "mystery guest" we get some insight into the spiritual side of this season, and with the help of a listener's question, we talk about what's on the menu for our holiday meals. Keep the questions about the holidays coming to [email protected]!

This conversation, recording during the first week of August, is our processing the latest COVID news and the implications for our community. Our Jewish story includes plenty of time in the wilderness, and while we didn't want to be in the uncertainty again, we've learned a lot about resilience and finding joy amidst the news. 

Peter and Loren talk about the creative process—how do we find inspiration for the sermons, programs, and feel free to try new things as rabbis (and people)? We also find out how Peter always has the perfect funny story or joke for a High Holy Day service.

We are getting ready for a High Holy Day-themed episode and want to answer your questions! Please send to [email protected].

In this episode we talk to Molly Edlein, The Temple's summer rabbinic intern. She shares about growing up at Temple, her interest in becoming a rabbi, and also the realities of being a Jewish college student in these times of rising antisemitism. 

In our first time recording together in person in many months, Peter and Loren chat about the new Israeli government, Jewish overnight camp, and some summer goals. 

Now that we are through "high season" for Jewish professionals, we finally get to sit down with our executive director, Mark Jacobson. He shares his story of growing up at The Temple and then serving in this professional role for decades. Likely you'll learn a few things you didn't know about Mark, The Temple, and all the work that happens behind the scenes!

This week's episode features a conversation with Soumaya Khalifa, the founder and executive director of the Islamic Speakers Bureau (ISB) of Atlanta. We talk about the importance of grassroots relationships and recognizing that we don't have to agree 100% of the time in order to be partners in the work of building a peaceful and understanding community. For more information about ISB, please go to www.isbatlanta.org. 

We had a lot of fun catching up with Rabbi David Spinrad, who served at The Temple from 2013-2018 and is now the senior rabbi at Beth-El Hebrew Congregation in Alexandria, Virginia. Hear about his social justice work, how he's finding his etsy game in the pandemic, and more.

We're back! In this first episode of Year 2 of our podcast, we decided to keep it light...a brief conversation sparked by National Administrative Assistants' Day and Earth Day and 1500 other national days we didn't know existed. We'll chat about what feels Jewish about these more modern additions to the calendar. Next week, we will be welcoming Rabbi David Spinrad to the podcast. As always, please send your questions to [email protected].