Challenging received tradition. BY SARAH WOLF The rabbis of the Talmud place themselves into two broad generational categories. The Tannaim, who lived approximately from the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E. until 250 C.E., produced the Mishnah. Then there are the Amoraim, who lived from 250 until approximately the 6th century CE. These are the named rabbis in the Talmud who discuss and comment on the Mishnah. As a general rule, statements by these earlier rabbis, the Tannaim, take precedence over statements by the later rabbis. That means, of course, that the post-250 rabbis think the Mishnah is authoritative, but it also means that a non-Mishnah statement from the Mishnaic time period, often referred to as a beraita (from the Aramaic meaning “outside,” because it comes from outside the Mishnah), is also authoritative to them — even if it explicitly disagrees with the Mishnah’s position. It also means that one Tanna can have a valid dispute with another, whereas (usually) an Amora cannot argue with a Tanna's opinion. However, this general rule of Tannaitic precedence is just that: a rule that applies generally, but not 100% of the time. Every once in a while, an Amora will dispute, revise or even request deleted from the record a statement by a Tanna. In today’s daf, the rabbis debate whether to stick with the general principle of upholding all tannaitic statements, or whether a particular tannaitic statement ought to be deleted. Sarah Wolf is an assistant professor of Talmud and rabbinics at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.

Parashat Shemot https://youtu.be/gxpZsZkfras Parashat Shemot / פרשת שְׁמוֹת Read in the Diaspora on 9 January 2021 (25 Tevet 5781). Parashat Shemot is the 13th weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. Torah Portion: Exodus 1:1-6:1 This week’s portion starts off the book of Exodus (“Shemot”). A new Pharaoh arose “who knew not Joseph”. This was a new dynasty which was more suspecting of foreigners. Since Joseph brought the “seventy souls”, which included his father, Jacob, and his brothers and their families, had now grown to include many Israelites. They were numerous in Egyptian society and the new Pharaoh appealed to the Egyptians sense of xenophobia. Pharaoh aroused their fears by stating that should Egypt be attacked, the Hebrews would join forces with the attackers and conspire against the Egyptians. Pharaoh then enslaves the Israelites. Pharaoh’s astrologers then come to him and tell him that a redeemer is going to be born who will free the Israelites and defeat him. He then orders his soldiers to throw every newborn Israelite male into the Nile to drown. A couple who are Levites save their son by putting him in a basket and sailing him down the Nile. The parents are later identified as Jocheved and Amram. The basket is found by Pharaoh’s daughter who wants to keep him. She calls him “Monios” (Egyptian) or “Moshe” (Hebrew) because she drew him from the water. Moses’ sister was watching and offers to have a Hebrew woman (turns out to be his mother) wet nurse him. After he is weened, Moses returns to Pharaoh’s daughter who raises him as her son in the court. Moses grows up and sees an Egyptian taskmaster beating a Hebrew slave. He intervenes and ends up killing him and hiding the body. The next day he sees two Israelites arguing and tries to resolve it. They confront him about the murder (the Midrash states these two were Dathan and Abiram). Pharaoh hears about it and Moses is forced to flee. He arrives in Midian at a well where he helps seven daughters of Jethro, a Midianite chieftain, who are being bullied by Arabs from another tribe. They take him home and Jethro lets him stay there and marry his oldest daughter, Zipporah. Moses works for him as a shepherd and Zipporah gives birth to Gershom, their son. Moses is out pasturing one day. Moses sees a bush that is burning but not consumed by the flames and it is Hashem summoning him. When Moses approaches the bush, it is Hashem who tells him he is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and has heard the suffering of his people. Moses asks Him His name and he replies “I am who I am. He tells Moses he will send him to Egypt to redeem them from slavery. Moses argues that he can not speak well but Hashem tells him He will be with him, and also Aaron his brother will serve as his mouthpiece. He also shows him signs by changing his staff into a snake, makes his hand leprous and turns the Nile red like blood. Reluctantly, Moses takes his wife and son and they set out for Goshen where they are met by Aaron. They confront Pharaoh that Hashem wants him to let the Israelites go. He asks Pharaoh to allow the Israelites to leave Egypt for a three-day festival to honor Hashem. Pharaoh retorts that he knows not of their god. He will also make the Israelites make bricks by also gathering their own straw. The Israelites are now complaining that Moses has made their burden worse. Moses complains to Hashem. Hashem responds that now Pharaoh will see what will happen by him not releasing the Israelites.

Jewish mysticism sees the sanctification of wine as a spiritual practice to manifest God's presence in the world. BY JOEL HECKER Candle lighting signals the onset of Shabbat, but it is kiddush — the blessing recited at the table over wine — that inaugurates Shabbat in the home. The kiddush liturgy invokes the themes of creation and the exodus, but Jewish mysticism, or kabbalah , represents this ritual as one of personal spirituality, in which we both invoke and manifest divinity. The Zohar, the central and canonical text of Jewish mysticism, overlays the kiddush cup of wine with an abundance of symbolic associations. In the very first teaching of the introduction, the Zohar suggests that this cup is symbolized by a rose: specifically the Rosa gallica versicolor, a striped rose whose flowers are crimson splashed on a white background, bearing thirteen petals and supported by five leaves that protect the vulnerable bloom. The rose represents Shechinah, the feminine aspect of God. She is imbued with thirteen divine attributes of compassion, symbolized by the whiteness of the petals. The crimson splashes refer to the aspects of judgment that reside within Shechinah, in harmony and balance with compassion. Five strong leaves protect the flower just as Shechinah is protected from those forces that seek to denigrate divine power in the world. The Zohar’s next move is to enfold biblical verse and the human body within its textual fabric. The “five sturdy leaves … are called Salvation; they are five gates. Concerning this mystery it is written: I raise the cup of salvation (Psalms 116:13). This is the cup of blessing, which should rest on five fingers, no more, like the rose, sitting on five sturdy leaves, paradigm of five fingers. This rose is the cup of blessing.” Elsewhere, the Zohar indicates that there are 70 words in kiddush, signifying the 70 crowns with which we adorn Shechinah. In rabbinic literature, the number 70 connotes completion or universality. Thus, decorating Shechinah with 70 words suggests that we have the capacity to make Her replete with all dimensions of holiness, making Her supreme. This kabbalistic description — densely layering natural, liturgical, biblical and human images — invites us to participate in taking responsibility for how divinity is manifest in the world. As we initiate the Sabbath day, the onus is placed on us to model for our families and friends the qualities of Shechinah, a holy mixture of lovingkindness and rigor, and to remind those gathered around our Shabbat table that we have the power to invoke divinity in this world. When you hold the kiddush cup in your hands, take a moment to contemplate that you are cradling Shechinah Herself, bringing divine aspects of love and discipline to your performance of the ritual. Kabbalists will often take one further step, holding the cup in one’s right hand, symbolizing compassion, and lightly supporting the right hand with the left, as yet another demonstration of how we want our Shabbat to be filled with love, yet accompanied by consistency and commitment, as represented by the left hand. For the kabbalists, these symbolic associations are not mere ideas. Rather they are portals to a transformed reality, in our hearts and in the world. Bringing a transformed consciousness to the ritual brings us into intimate connection with these different aspects of God — and as a result, with those aspects in each other. Joel Hecker is a professor of Jewish mysticism at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.

Parashat VaYechi 5781 Parashat Vayechi / פרשת וַיְחִי Read in the Diaspora on 2 January 2021 (18 Tevet 5781). Parashat Vayechi is the 12th weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. Torah Portion: Genesis 47:28-50:26 Parashat Vayech finishes up the book of Genesis, Bereishit is the first book of Torah. Jacob has lived the last seventeen years of his life happy and comfortable. He sees that he is about to die and wants to bless his sons. He first calls for Joseph and his sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Although Ephraim is the younger, he blesses him first. He tells Joseph that even though they are his grandchildren, he is adopting them as his sons. Thus, Joseph becomes the first born and through his sons get a double portion. Jacob then blesses his other sons. First he blesses the first borns of Leah. Reuben is the first born but because he is impetuous, he forfeits that. Joseph is the royalty, Judah is the leader and ancestor of the Davidic line, and the Levites are the priests. Jacob curses the anger of Levi and Simeon. Dan is like a snake and judges his people, a foreshadow of Samson the judge. Naphtali is a hind let loose. Gad is a warrior, always can be counted on to defend Israel during battle. Asher raises honey is his land, and supplies goods to the Israelites when they do battle. Issachar and Zebulan are partners. Zebulan is seafaring and deals with fish while Issachar pastures animals and studies Torah. The last blessed are the sons of Rachel. Joseph has gained wisdom. Benjamin is a wolf; His descendants are Saul, the first king, and Mordechai, who helps saves the Jewish people while in exile between the first and second Temples. Jacob has Joseph promise to bury him in the cave at Machpelah, where is buried Abraham and Sara and Isaac and Rebecca, and Leah. Joseph accepts the vow and thus Pharaoh allows him to do so even though he is important to Egypt. Joseph assures his brothers after Jacob dies that he still loves them and will not seek vengeance for them selling him into slavery. He conveys to the children of Israelto keep faith during the struggles ahead. "G-d will surely remember you, and bring you up out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, Issac and Jacob. Joseph lives to be 110 and dies. And thus Genesis comes to an end.

Parashat Vayigosh 5781

Even when we aren’t perfectly well, our bodies are still doing countless amazing things. BY RABBI PAULA ROSE The functioning of our bodies is dependent on countless internal processes working smoothly and consistently. Our hearts must keep beating, our neurons must keep firing, our intestines must keep absorbing nutrients, our kidneys must keep filtering and our lungs must keep breathing. If most or all of those processes are working well, it is easy to ignore them. Perhaps to remind us to notice the wonder of all of these processes, Judaism prescribes a blessing to be recited after going to the bathroom. The blessings reads: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר יָצַר אֶת הָאָדָם בְּחָכְמָה, וּבָרָא בוֹ נְקָבִים נְקָבִים חֲלוּלִים חֲלוּלִים .גָּלוּי וְיָדוּעַ לִפְנֵי כִסֵּא כְבוֹדֶךָ, שֶׁאִם יִפָּתֵחַ אֶחָד מֵהֶם, אוֹ יִסָּתֵם אֶחָד מֵהֶם, אִי אֶפְשַׁר לְהִתְקַיֵּם וְלַעֲמוֹד לְפָנֶיךָ אַפִלּוּ שָׁעָה אֶחָת. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי, רוֹפֵא כָל בָּשָׂר וּמַפְלִיא לַעֲשׂוֹת:” “Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, King of the universe, who formed man with wisdom and created within him many openings and many hollow spaces. It is obvious and known before Your Seat of Honor that if even one of them would be opened, or if even one of them would be sealed, it would be impossible to survive and to stand before You even for one hour. Blessed are You, Adonai, who heals all flesh and acts wondrously.” I started reciting Asher Yatzar regularly around the time I was diagnosed with a chronic illness. Much of the time, my body’s internal processes were not functioning perfectly. I was often in pain or discomfort, which made it hard to focus on the things I cared about. I was angry at my body and resented it for being broken. So I had a hard time with this blessing. I didn’t feel like my body was a wond rously working machine, more like a rusty old car, barely doing its job. Eventually, as I recited this blessing every day, I realized that my body was good enough. The blessing’s text was true — we cannot exist if the processes of our bodies completely shut down. Yet here I was. My body was doing thousands of amazing things all of the time, and just a few of them at a suboptimal level. It had been easy to recite Asher Yatzar with gratitude when I felt well, but now I began to feel that gratitude even when I felt worse. My retinas were still converting light into images that my brain understood. My lungs were still bringing in oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide. My skin was still protecting my organs from the outside world. My white blood cells were still preventing infection. Even when I was in pain, I was alive and in the presence of God. It is human nature that problems command our attention. The congestion that comes with a cold makes us notice each inhale and miss the ability to breathe easily. A sore throat makes us acutely aware of how often we swallow. Yet even when we are sick or hurt, even when our bodies are demanding our attention and telling us something is wrong, we are still here. We continue to exist because so many physical processes are quietly working perfectly, even if a few of them might have some kinks here or there. Rabbi Paula Rose is the assistant rabbi of Congregation Beth Shalom in Seattle, Washington.

https://youtu.be/MpRF5yIi7N0 Parashat Miketz / פרשת מִקֵּץ Read in the Diaspora on 19 December 2020 (4 Tevet 5781). Parashat Miketz is the 10th weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. Torah Portion: Genesis 41:1-44:17 This week’s portion, Miketz, opens up with Pharoah having two disturbing dreams. They are so vivid that he at first doesn’t realize that they are in fact dreams. In the first dream, seven plump cows come out of the Nile followed by seven emaciated cows that swallow them whole. The next dream has a stalk of grain with seven plump kernels swallowed up by a thin, wind-blown stalk of grain that grows after them. He calls for his wise men and magicians to interpret them, but they fail to do so to his satisfaction. The Chief Cupbearer then tells Pharaoh about a Hebrew slave in prison that correctly interpreted his dream two years ago when he was interred. Pharaoh sends for Joseph. Joseph tells him that Hashem will interpret his dreams through Joseph. Joseph tells Pharaoh that the dreams are the same. They portend seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. Joseph tells Pharaoh that G-d has told Pharaoh also to put aside grain during the good years for the famine. Pharaoh puts Joseph in charge, second in command of Egypt also to him. Pharaoh also changes Joseph’s name to Zapaneth-Panea and announces him role to Egypt. Joseph marries Potiphar’s daughter, Aseneth, and has two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. After the seven years of plenty, the famine starts and affects all the neighboring countries. Jacob hears that there is grain in Egypt and sends his sons there to secure provisions. They appear before Joseph to buy grain. Joseph has got older, wears Egyptian clothes and has grown facial hair so the brothers don’t recognize him, but he recognizes them. He accuses them of being spies so see if they repent how they treated him and whether they also resent his full brother Benjamin. He demands they bring Benjamin to him to prove that they are telling the truth and puts Simeon (who originally suggested the brothers kill Joseph rather than sell him off) in prison as a hostage. Benjamin had been left at home since Jacob was afraid of losing his other son by his favorite wife Rachel. Joseph sends them off but has planted their money that was supposed to be used to pay for the grain back in their sacks. They discover this en route home. Once home, they use up their supply and Jacob sends them off to Egypt again for more grain. They tell him that they can’t return without bringing Benjamin to prove they’re not spies. Judah pledges for his safety. When they return to Egypt, Joseph treats them to a feast. He then sets up Benjamin by planting his goblet in his bag and states that he will imprison Benjamin as a thief, but the rest can go. Judah approaches Joseph to plead for his release and offers to take his place in prison.

This prayer calls on us to discover where the brokenness of the world overlaps with our particular human gifts. BY RABBI TIFERET BERENBAUM https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/aleinu-a-call-to-divine-service/?utm_source=mjl_maropost&utm_campaign=MJL_Prayer&utm_medium=email Aleinu is a prayer recited at the end of services, as we are about to depart from sacred community. It is like a pep-rally to get us motivated and ready to go back out into the world to serve. The prayer is composed of two stanzas, which are well illustrated by the Venn diagram below. The first stanza can be controversial, but it doesn’t have to be. One of the problematic lines thanks God she-lo assanu k’goyei ha’aratzot — “who has not made us like the nations of the world.” This is a declaration that we stand for the mission of Judaism, which is essentially to be a “God wrestler” (one possible translation of the word Israel). As Jews, we struggle to understand what God is and what God desires for our world. This struggle is what gives meaning to our lives. This is not to say that other religions or groups are not also God wrestlers, but Jews wrestle in a unique way. We wrestle in Hebrew, on Shabbat, on our holidays. We wrestle through Torah and our rabbis. We wrestle in a different way with the State of Israel. And we are grateful for this, because it gives us a unique place in the world and a unique worldview, not to the detriment of others. A second controversial line reads: She-lo sam chel’keinu ka-hem — “who has not placed our portion like theirs.” Each and every one of us has a set of talents, experiences and blessings that are uniquely ours. Our task is to figure out how we use the tools that we are given. Aleinu allows us to connect our unique being back to the very nature of creation, as it says in the prayer’s opening line, Aleinu le-shabei-ach la-adon ha-kol, la-tet gedulah l’yotzer bereshit — “It is our obligation to praise the Master of it all, to ascribe greatness to the author of creation.” For all of these skills and talents that we possess, we are obligated to praise. But how? The second stanza answers that question. All that we have to do is le-taken olam b’malchut shaddai — to repair the world (tikkun olam) through malchut shaddai (we’ll translate this later). Many people believe that tikkun olam is simply about fixing the world and doing good. But it is tied to a kabbalistic view of creation that imagines the creator pouring itself into the world. Along the way, the earthly vessels were unable to contain the all-ness of the divine and they shattered and spread throughout our world. These shards can be found in all places, even places that appear at first glance to be dank and devoid of holiness. In these places, we are called on to search out those shards of the original divine vessel which held the all-ness of the One and lift up the sparks, the residue of holiness left from that original break. So when we consider what most breaks our hearts in the world, we can think about the places where the sparks are most hidden. When we use our unique talents and blessings to effect change where we see a great need, we are truly praising God. Aleinu reminds us of our abilities, empowers us to step into difficult places and to find God there. The prayer tells us that by acting with godly purpose in those places, we are doing tikkun olam, strengthening the world to hold more divinity. What about malchut shaddai? Most simply, it is translated as the kingdom of God. But the essence of malchut shaddai is the interconnectedness of all life. It’s the flow that exists between all things, where each element in creation both provides for and takes from the whole. So we are charged with doing tikkun olam through our unique gifts because we are given these gifts for no other reason than to do tikkun olam. We have what someone else lacks. We need what someone else can give us. We are all connected, so we owe it to the author of creation to reinvest in the system, to manifest the plan. Aleinu concludes with a vision of sacred unity, taken from Zecharia 14:9: Bayom ha-hu yih-yeh Adonai echad u’shemo echad — “On that day, God will be one and His name will be one.” This vision sees a world where we all come to prioritize the connections between us, to serve in a way that benefits the greater good and others even if it does not appear to immediately benefit us. On that day, God’s name will be one. The service of all religions, all who wrestle with God, will then be complete and all will come to know that we’ve truly been serving the same purpose. We will then all be able to call God by the true name, which we will discover on that day. But to bring us to that day, we must first each discover where we are being called into service. Rabbi Tiferet Berenbaum received rabbinic ordination and a master’s degree in Jewish education from Hebrew College in Boston. She is the spiritual leader of Temple Har Zion in Mt. Holly, New Jersey.

https://youtu.be/NDhhOSZoXaE Parashat Vayeshev / פרשת וַיֵּשֶׁב Read in the Diaspora on 12 December 2020 (26 Kislev 5781). Parashat Vayeshev is the 9th weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. Now Jacob was settled in the land where his father had sojourned, the land of Canaan. Jacob had a special relationship with Joseph, the older son of his favorite wife. They would study together while the other ten brothers were out working, pasturing their livestock. Joseph had the gift of prophecy and had two dreams. in the first there were eleven sheaths of grain. His sheath stood upright while the others bent towards him as if to bow. His second dream had the sun, moon and eleven stars bowing towards him. These dreams incensed the other brothers. Jacob asked Joseph to go out to where his brothers were pasturing the livestock to see how they were. As the brothers saw him coming, they talked about killing him. Judah and Reuben intervened to have him sold as a slave instead. He was sold to Ishmaelites, who sold him to Medianites, who sold him to Potiphar, the viceroy of Egypt to the Pharaoh. The portion then digresses to talk about Judah, who left the family business to go into a partnership with Shua, the Adullamite. Judah married Shua’s daughter and they had three sons: Er, Onan and Shelah. Judah arranged for Tamar, a native, to marry Er. Er did what was evil in the eyes of Hashem and he died. Judah then told Onan to marry the widow so she could have a son to carry on Er’s legacy. Onan avoided getting her pregnant and he died as well. Judah told Tamar he would have Shelah marry her when he was older, but Judah avoided that thinking that marriage to Tamar causes death. Tamar instinctively knew that her offspring would give birth to the line of David and she had to have offspring. She tricked Judah into having relations with her by disguising herself as a prostitute so Judah himself would perform the duty of impregnating her to continue the legacy (levirate). Judah promised her two calves for her services and gave her his signet, wrap and staff as collateral. When Judah returned with the payment, no one knew her and he couldn’t find her. Three months later, someone told Judah his daughter-in-law was pregnant. Since she was still in mourning, her penalty was death for adultery. When she stood trial, she produced the staff, wrap and signet ring as indicating the father. Judah admitted it was his. Tamar gave birth to two sons, one of whom, Perez, would be the ancestor of the Davidic line. Meanwhile, in Egypt, Joseph was made head of Potiphar’s household and everything Joseph arranged flourished and thrived. Joseph was very handsome and Potiphar’s wife was attracted to him and wanted to have relations with him. When he refused, she tried to grab him and caught his jacket. She used that as evidence that he tried to molest her and Joseph was put in jail. The warden of the prison liked him and made him his aide. After nine years, the Chief Baker and Cupbearer were confined there for offenses. They both had dreams and told them to Joseph who told them that Hashem would interpret them. Joseph correctly predicted that the Cupbearer would be restored to his position but the Baker would be executed. The baker, freed, never vouched for Joseph and he remained in prison.

Shabbat Vayyishlach Morning Services with Rabbi Stephen 12 05 2020 Shabbat service Rabbi Stephen 12 05 2020 Shabbat service share screen

Kabbalat Shabbat Vayyishlach Friday Evening Services with Rabbi Stephen 12 4 2020 Erev Shabbat Friday Rabbi

Can a prayer be too familiar? Adon Olam is an emotional and poetic masterpiece that is essentially hiding in plain sight. Many Jews are well acquainted with Adon Olam because it concludes prayer services on Shabbat mornings. Its meter makes it particularly easy to sing its words to a wide variety of melodies, including those of popular songs. Those of us who strive to have worshippers of all ages embrace a text should be thrilled that countless Jews can immediately recite Adon Olam by memory. But somewhere along the way, the true majesty of Adon Olam got lost. It words convey nothing less than a complete framework for our relationship with God. Click here to learn how to say Adon Olam Most people would identify this prayer as the closing hymn of the service. But Adon Olam is also recited first thing in the morning, even before the start of the formal prayers. It appears in most editions of the prayer book as an early meditation, to be said by an individual after putting on a tallit (prayer shawl) as a preparation for the actual service. Put another way, the words of Adon Olam serve as bookends to our daily prayer. In the mere space of five stanzas, the poet has defined God as existing b’li reishit b’li tachlit — without beginning or end. It makes perfect sense, therefore, to use these words to frame our own prayers. Before we even begin to pray, we try to look at the big picture. Who are we? What is our place here? How does God fit into our lives? So we look to the very first words of Adon Olam. Adon Olam asher malach, b’terem kol y’tzir nivrah Before creation shaped the world, God, eternal, reigned alone. V’acharei kichlot hakol, l’vado yimloch nora When all is ended, God alone will be glorious in eternity. In other words, whatever prayers or supplication we are about to make, whatever step we are taking on our own personal journey, there exists something vastly more grand and permanent that transcends our specific needs. God was here before us and will be present after we’re gone. That’s a humbling message, and informs how we approach the rest of the service. So why does Adon Olam appear again later, to conclude our service? Haven’t we sufficiently framed our prayer through the context of God’s infinite presence? The grandeur of this poem becomes evident in its closing stanza. Until this point, the text expressed God’s presence in broad strokes: God has always been present. God is, was, and will be — without a beginning or an end. But then Adon Olam closes with a starkly different and more personal theme. B’yado af-kid ru-chi, b’et ishan v’a-irah I place my soul in God’s care, when I sleep as when I woke. V’im ru-chi g-viyati, Adonai li v’lo i-rah And if my soul should leave me, God is with me and I will have no fear. When we are first starting our day, we’re seeking support and perspective. We want to know that our difficulties are not all consuming. But as we end our day, our needs are different. We seek reassurance and comfort. Adon Olam is actually a sublime bedtime message, expressing many of the same ideas that we communicate to our children: It’ll all be OK. You’re safe and protected. I’m here. As in real estate, when it comes to certain prayers, location is everything. We can see two instances of an identical text and comprehend them in utterly different ways based only on where they appear. The brilliance of this beloved but often lesser examined poem lies in its ability to elicit a number of distinct connections with the reader. Adon Olam effectively reflects our desire to understand God’s presence in a multitude of ways — whether that takes place in the midst of public prayer or the quiet serenity of personal meditation. Cantor Matt Axelrod has served Congregation Beth Israel of Scotch Plains, New Jersey, since 1990. He is a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and a national officer of the Cantors Assembly. Cantor Axelrod is the author of “Surviving Your Bar/Bat Mitzvah: The Ultimate Insider’s Guide,” and “Your Guide to the Jewish Holidays: From Shofar to Seder.” You can read his blog at mattaxelrod.com.