McHenry County Jewish Congregation (MCJC)

06/03/2026

Rabbi’s message 6/3/26

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05/06/2026

Rabbi's Message 5/6/26

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04/29/2026

Rabbi's Message 4/29/26

Rabbi's Message 4/29/26

03/18/2026

Rabbi's Message 3/18/26

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03/04/2026

Rabbi's Message

War is not a good option for anyone.

Are you confused by the war in the Middle East right now? Join the crowd. On the one hand, the repressive Iranian dictator has been killed along with other top officials, which could bring positive change to Iranians and lower threat of future war for Israel. On the other hand hundreds of Iranian citizens have lost their lives and Iran has bombed more than a few Arab nations and especially Israel. On the one hand, Israel’s population is relieved to have Iran’s power curtailed. On the other hand, there have been some deaths and many injured in central Israel, and daily life is disrupted for all. Hezbollah has attacked from Lebanon, giving residents of the north, the Galilee and the Golan, 30 seconds warning to get to shelter; with missiles from Iran there is ten minutes. My brother texted me to ask how Jacob and family are, and this was my reply: “Jacob and family are safe. Inconvenienced by online classes for the kids, no work for Michal who is a speech therapist in the schools and medical system, they were unable to celebrate Purim in
community, and they make trips to the safe room several times a day when sirens announce missiles in their vicinity. War is stupid.”

What can we do? What we always do—practice gemilut chassadim/deeds of loving kindness. Thank your friends and neighbors for their concern about Israel.

To provide assistance to Israeli communities, Jews and Arabs, consider the New Israel Fund: https://secure.nif.org/onlineactions/Mz6TpJeV1Eer0cPmdi0gow2?ms=top%20donate%20main%20nav&_gl=1*1j5uarl*_gcl_au*MTM0MDYwNzA4NC4xNzcyNTk1OTM5

To donate to Magen David Adom, Israel’s Emergency Services System:
https://secure.afmda.org/site/Donation2?3421.donation=form1&mfc_pref=T&idb=786303651&df_id=3421&DONATION_LEVEL_ID_SELECTED=1&3421.donation=root
Have you made donations to the poor, one of the central mitzvot of Purim? It’s never too late. Consider your local food pantry as well as Maot Chitim, which provides Shabbat and holiday food for indigent Jews in Chicago. They’re gearing up for Passover right now: https://maotchitim.org/?form=FOODFORTHEHOLIDAY

As Hillel used to say, If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? If not now, when? May the One who makes peace in the heavens, inspire us to make peace on earth, for all humankind, and let us say, Amen

Maot Chitim of Greater Chicago Maot Chitim of Greater Chicago provides food and programs to help people in the Jewish community celebrate holidays and traditions. Volunteer Today Donate Online Request […]

02/25/2026

This video was recorded by Rabbi Gordon for last week’s parasha and is relevant this week, and every week, as well!

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02/18/2026

Video messages are back!

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02/11/2026

Rabbi's Message

Anti-Semitism

Did you see the Super Bowl ad about a boy being targeted in school because he was Jewish? Did you read about Israeli President Herzog encountering major protests outside his address to the Jewish community in Sydney, Australia, offering comfort and support after the Chanukah massacre at Bondi Beach, with protesters chanting “Globalize the Intifada”? Around the world haters are using the conflict in Gaza as an excuse to target Jews.
I feel that we are very fortunate to live in a community that respects and supports the Jewish community, while it is just not the case in many locales across the country and around the world. McHenry County is largely a community of acceptance and inclusion. We worry about our Latinx neighbors, participate in Gay Pride events, and are not afraid to be overtly Jewish. I know that there are exceptions, and if you are experiencing anti-Jewish behavior, I would like to know about it. Together we can be proud and supportive of each other and other targeted groups in our community.
As Hillel taught:
If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
If I am only for myself, what am I?
If not now, when?

02/04/2026

Rabbi's Message

Ten Commandments & Shabbat

This week the Torah portion is Yitro. Torah portions are named according to the first word in the portion, or the first word that is not too common to be recognized as a particular portion. Yitro was Moses’s father-in-law. He joined the Israelites shortly after they crossed the Reed Sea (often mistakenly labeled “Red Sea”), to see how Moses was doing. He noticed Moses was overburdened in his leadership tasks, and recommended appointing intermediate leaders who could ease his burden of all but the most pressing or complicated concerns.
This portion is called Yitro even though what we remember about it the most is that it contains the experience of the Israelites at Mt. Sinai and the giving of the Ten Commandments. One of the Ten Commandments contains an antidote for each of us in our overburdened lives, that is, the commandment/mitzvah of Shabbat. The commandment states that no one in your household shall work on the seventh day, and that includes cooking! In the desert we’re told that on Fridays the people were provided with twice the daily allotment of manna, as manna would not be available to gather on Shabbat.
What does it mean to observe Shabbat in a meaningful way if you are retired or if your job requires you to work on Saturdays? Personally, I cook enough for Friday night dinner so that I don’t have to cook on Shabbat. I’ll eat yogurt Shabbat morning rather than cook up some eggs. Also, I refrain from shopping or initiating any financial activities on Shabbat. I refrain from knitting and other activities that involve creating something, as the seventh day of rest in part commemorates God completing the creation of the world on the sixth day. When I’m with my grandchildren in Israel, we play cards or board games after Shabbat dinner.
This would be a good week to reflect on how to meaningfully observe Shabbat in your household.

01/29/2026

Rabbi's Message

This past Shabbat I had the honor of speaking at my grandson Noam’s bar mitzvah. Jacob and Michal, my son and daughter-in-law, live in Israel in the town of Katzrin, and belong to an Orthodox congregation of English speakers. The service is entirely in Hebrew but words of Torah can be in Hebrew or English. Noam chanted the entire Torah reading. He began learning to leyn, that is, chant the Torah, when he was in first grade, and took to it immediately. This past week’s reading was more than three chapters, and Noam leyned quickly and accurately, followed by the Haftarah from the prophet Jeremiah, followed by being pelted with candy, some soft, some hard. At the Kiddush lunch afterward I spoke about the Exodus. The reading last week started with the last three of the Ten Plagues and included instructions to the Israelites on how to prepare to leave Egypt. Most significantly four times in the parasha it says that you shall tell your child about God redeeming you from Egypt with a strong arm and an outstretched hand. This part of the portion is familiar to those of us who don’t hear it read in synagogue but recite it from the Haggadah at the Passover Seder.
The Exodus from Egypt is the Jewish people’s foundational story, that our beginnings were as slaves, and that God redeemed us from that oppression. This foundation provides us with humility, pride at how far we have come, gratitude at our redemption, and responsibility toward others who are oppressed. Thirty-six times in the Torah it tells us to look out for and raise up the poor, the immigrant, the landless, the oppressed, as we know as a people what it means to be oppressed “strangers”. Every Erev Shabbat and Yom Tov (holiday) we include gratitude for the redemption from slavery in Egypt in the Kiddush. Those who daven(pray) regularly, three times a day, recite a passage about the redemption from Egypt in both the morning and the evening service. These lowly beginnings, redemption from slavery and responsibility towards the needy and oppressed are imprinted within us through this repetition, prompting us to help others with out a second thought.
What I didn’t talk about at the Kiddush is how we agonize in this country with the current situation of immigrants and citizens alike being persecuted, tear-gassed, kidnapped, injured, even killed by agents of ICE. But rest assured, had I been in Woodstock instead of Katzrin last week, I would have gone to Minneapolis with the hundreds of clergy from every faith community who were present, witnessing, protesting and praying.
May we each find the strength to contribute to halting the oppression of the immigrants, the needy, the non-whites in this alleged Land of Liberty.