TBZ Brookline

10/26/2026

10/23/2026

Oh hey, we know that rabbi in The Boston Globe!

RabbiClaudia Kreiman was interviewed for their article, "Israeli expats spend thousands to return to Israel to vote in pivotal election."

📰 from the article:
Senior Rabbi Claudia Kreiman of Temple Beth Zion in Brookline is flying to Israel for a whirlwind trip in which she will cast her ballot Tuesday and return to the United States later that day.

"It is one vote, and what do I know if this vote will make a difference?" said Kreiman, who opposes the Netanyahu government. “But I want to believe that my vote, with the other 50,000 people traveling, will make a difference.”

At least six other congregants from Temple Beth Zion are traveling to Israel, Kreiman said.

✈️ Safe travels to Rav Claudia and the other TBZers going to vote!

Article in the first comment.

10/22/2026

From RabbiClaudia Kreiman's Shabbat L**h L**ha Message:
"The Ben Ish Chai, Rabbi Yosef Hayyim of Baghdad, offers a beautiful teaching on the words L**h L**ha:

“L**h L**ha: the capacity to walk (l**h), to go forth, to not stop in one place, to not get stuck — this is the thing that is actually l**ha, yours. It is only the journey (l**h) that is yours (l**ha), that is in your ownership.”

The teaching invites us to think about what it means to own our journeys, not because we control everything that happens to us, but because we have a role in deciding how we respond, what we choose, and where we go from here. Even when the road ahead is uncertain, even when we find ourselves in a place we did not expect to be, the journey remains ours to shape.

And this is what I have been thinking about in our own moment, when so much feels uncertain, vulnerable, and frightening, and when the choices before us can feel both deeply consequential and difficult to make. What does it mean to be on a journey at a moment like this?"

Read the full message here:
https://www.tbzbrookline.org/2026/10/parshat-l**h-l**ha-october-22-2026/

10/15/2026

From RabbiClaudia Kreiman's Shabbat Noach Message:
"There are moments when looking at the world around us, it is hard to imagine how things could possibly change, when the destruction feels so overwhelming and the possibility of finding solid ground seems so far away that we begin to wonder whether there is any point in trying. What does it mean to keep going when we do not know whether our efforts will make a difference, and when even the smallest signs of hope seem almost impossible to find?

Parashat Noach, the Torah portion we read this week, offers us a practice for these moments: keep trying, even when it feels impossible."

Read the full message here: https://www.tbzbrookline.org/2026/10/parshat-noach-october-15-2026/

10/09/2026

From RabbiClaudia Kreiman's Shabbat Beresh*t Message:

The story of the creation of the first human being is told in an interesting way. Before God creates humanity, God says:

נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם בְּצַלְמֵנוּ כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ
Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness (Genesis 1:26).

Why the plural? Why does God say, "Let us make," rather than "Let me make"?

The midrash (rabbinic commentary) offers an answer: God is not creating alone, God is speaking with the angels. The angels, in this telling, are participants in the creation of humanity. But they are not all convinced that human beings should be created at all.

Read the full message here: https://www.tbzbrookline.org/2026/10/parshat-beresh*t-october-8-2026/

10/01/2026

From RabbiClaudia Kreiman's Shmini Atzeret Shabbat Message:
"Last Shabbat during services, on the first day of Sukkot, I shared with our community a beautiful teaching by Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, also known as the Kedushat Levi.

The last week’s Torah reading for Sukkot included all the holidays, and commanded us to take the four species and bless them on the first day.

וּלְקַחְתֶּם לָכֶם בַּיּוֹם הָרִאשׁוֹן
You shall take for yourselves on the first day (Leviticus 23:40).

The Kedushat Levi asks: First day of what?
And he answers: It is the first day that our sins are counted.
But we just did Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Weren’t our sins counted then?"

Read the full message here:
https://www.tbzbrookline.org/2026/10/shmini-atzeret-october-1-2026/

09/10/2026

Shana Tova U'Metuka! (A Good and Sweet Year)

09/03/2026

From RabbiClaudia Kreiman's Shabbat Nitzavim-Vayel**h message:
"This is the last Shabbat of the year, and in it we read the double Torah portion of Nitzavim-Vayel**h. The opening of Nitzavim includes powerful words:

אַתֶּם נִצָּבִים הַיּוֹם כֻּלְּכֶם לִפְנֵי הֹ’ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם
“You stand this day, all of you, before the Eternal, your God” (Deuteronomy 29:9).

I love the insistence of the Torah here. It could have simply said, “All Israel is standing here.” Instead, it names the people who might otherwise be overlooked: the women and children, the strangers, those who occupy the margins of the community, those whose work is essential but whose names are rarely remembered. And then it makes clear that they too are standing before God. They too are part of the covenant. They too belong.

It feels especially poignant to read these words today as we learn about the passing of Gloria Steinem, an American journalist, feminist, and activist who dedicated her life to women’s rights and became one of the most important voices of the modern women’s movement."

Read the full message here: https://www.tbzbrookline.org/2026/09/parshat-nitzavim-vayel**h-september-3-2026/

08/27/2026

From Rav Tiferet Berenbaum's Shabbat Ki Tavo message:

"This week, in Parshat Ki Tavo, we tell the story of our ancestors: Jacob went down to Egypt, we became a great nation there, the Egyptians oppressed us, we cried out, God heard us, and God brought us out with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. It is the same story we tell at the seder table each Passover. The Torah teaches us to tell this story not when we are still enslaved, or in the narrow place, but when we are free. Not when we are wandering, but when we have arrived. Not when we are hungry, but when we are holding the first fruits of a harvest.

At the Passover seder, we tell the story of slavery from the place of freedom. We sit around a table covered with food and w**e and say: We were slaves. We cried out. God brought us out. And here, in Ki Tavo, we do something very similar. We stand in the land, holding the first fruits of its abundance, and we say: Remember where we came from, where we entered from."

Read the full message here:
https://www.tbzbrookline.org/2026/08/parshat-ki-tavo-august-27-2026/

08/21/2026

Due to the inclement weather, we will not hold Kabbalat Shabbat services at Griggs Park this evening.

Instead, join us at TBZ for a song-filled, joyous service in the sanctuary (or on Zoom) at 6:00pm. Tonight's service will still be like our usual Griggs service: a shorter service allowing more time for schmoozing, community building, and eating together. So please bring the picnic dinner you had planned for Griggs Park to the community room following services!