I wanted nothing more in the world than to be a mother. Our daughter Liat Odeleya’s name means “Thank God You Are Mine” in a riff on the Hebrew. Jeff and I bless the heavens that she and her older brother Gavi are ours. Their births healed the Gavi-and-Liat shaped holes in our hearts that Continue Reading »
People will often say that we Jews have a blessing or a prayer for every occasion – and they’d be right. Whatever happens there is a blessing to be said, praising and thanking God. When a person survives a near death experience, they recite Birkat Gomel. God is thanked for rewarding the undeserving with goodness, Continue Reading »
It is such a joy and a privilege to be with you this morning and especially to be alongside my dear friend and colleague Reverend J. Anthony Lloyd. I feel immensely honored and blessed to have the opportunity to deliver today’s invocation. I am ever so grateful to be here, surrounded by friends committed to Continue Reading »
As we approach the end of another calendar year, alongside holiday celebrations, we have a new tradition of celebrating individuals as heroes or people of the year. Most prominently we have the Time Magazine Person of the Year and the CNN Heroes. I want to add another hero; a group who have gone unrecognized for Continue Reading »
Rabbi Jordana Schuster Battis Temple Shir Tikva, Wayland, MA • December 10, 2021 • 7 Tevet 5782 Many of you joined us a few weeks ago for the talk we hosted by Dr. Jeremi Carswell, the Director of the GeMS (Gender Multispecialty Service) Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, and her colleague, psychologist Kerry MacGregor, Continue Reading »
Click above to listen to Cantor Hollis and Rabbi Danny’s welcome at the Wayland Interfaith Leaders Association (WILA) Interfaith Communal Thanksgiving Service!
Rabbi Jordana Schuster Battis Temple Shir Tikva, Wayland, MA • November 26, 2021 • 23 Kislev 5782 This is a sermon about what we do when we come up against the fact that the stories we’ve been telling ourselves about ourselves and about the world we live in can no longer hold. It is a Continue Reading »
I don’t remember much about the specifics of the Shabbat service that morning, what I do remember is that my phone kept vibrating in my pocket. While this has become more normal in our Covid world, this was 3 years ago, and so while a vibration or two might have been expected, this was way Continue Reading »
Despite the limitations of COVID, our Adult Community Engagement Committee continues to plan fun activities for the adults of our community! Recently, they went on a hike up Mt. Kearsarge in New Hampshire. Thirteen TST family members joined (or fourteen if you include the dog!) and enjoyed the beauty of nature from the summit!