You've Always Belonged Here: The Temple Israel Podcast

This week, Rabbi Lily Goldstein teaches that Elul is a season of reflection and preparation, inviting us to take responsibility for our own growth, strengthen our faith and courage, and move toward the people we hope to become.

For this week's daf, please visit tiwestport.org/daf

To learn more about Temple Israel, please click the links below.

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Grounded in a personal heritage of deep political conviction and amidst today's shifting tides, Rabbi Michael S. Friedman calls on us to navigate current political uncertainties not by retreating, but rather deepening our interfaith partnerships, engaging our leaders face-to-face, and boldly reaffirming our Jewish identity and resilience.

To learn more about Temple Israel, please click the links below.

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This week, Rabbi Lily Goldstein, citing her current pregnancy, remarked on how this week's Torah portion – Parashat Eikev – invites us to move beyond fear of the evil eye and anxiety about arrogance, embracing gratitude as the most authentic Jewish response to life's blessings.

To learn more about Temple Israel, please click the links below.

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Inspired by Debbie Friedman's Mourning Into Dancing, Rabbi Lily Goldstein, Rabbi Zachary A. Plesent and Cantor Becky Mann gave a sermon in three parts this week about what that means to them.

Mourning Into Dancing by Debbie Friedman can be listened to here.

To learn more about Temple Israel, please click the links below.

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This week, Cantor Julia Cadrain helps us explore how rest, healthy boundaries, and self-advocacy are not acts of selfishness but sacred practices that renew us and strengthen our ability to care for others.

To learn more about Temple Israel, please click the links below.

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This week, Rabbi Plesent remarked about the United States of America's semiquincentennial and how respectful disagreement can strengthen both our communities and our democracy.

To learn more about Temple Israel, please click the links below.

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For this week's podcast, Cantor Becky Mann taught us during our Pride Shabbat on the Beach that we are all created b'tzelem elohim – in the image of God.

To learn more about Temple Israel, please click the links below.

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Drawing on the shared history of enslavement and the imperative to remember the past, Rabbi Elana Nemitoff-Bresler reflects on the deep parallels between Passover and Juneteenth, calling for solidarity between the Jewish and Black communities to fight systemic racism and work together toward tikkun olam.

To learn more about Temple Israel, please click the links below.

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This week, Rabbi Friedman reflected on the sale of his childhood synagogue and how encounters with God have traditionally taken place in nature and invites us to experience the divine through wonder, awe, and the quiet presence found beneath the open sky.

To learn more about Temple Israel, please click the links below.

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠@templeisraelwestport⁠⁠⁠

Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Temple Israel of Westport, CT⁠⁠⁠⁠

Youtube: ⁠⁠⁠Temple Israel Westport⁠⁠⁠

Website: ⁠⁠⁠tiwestport.org⁠

For this week's episode, our Legacy Shabbat Artist-in-Residence, Cantor Barbara Ostfeld reflected on how TI has carried forward a legacy of social justice, musical innovation, and radical inclusion through generations of evolving Jewish leadership and worship.

To learn more about Temple Israel, please click the links below.

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@templeisraelwestport⁠⁠⁠⁠

Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Temple Israel of Westport, CT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Youtube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Temple Israel Westport⁠⁠⁠⁠

Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠tiwestport.org