Rabbi Mendel Liberow: Celebrate Chanukah
We’re about to celebrate one of my most favorite Jewish holidays: Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, which begins Dec. 18 and runs through Dec. 26.
It’s my favorite because more than any other Jewish holiday, Chanukah is all about celebrating our freedom to live proudly...
Congregation Emeth prepares to celebrate High Holy Days
The sound of the shofar, a trumpet-like blast made by blowing on a ram’s horn, will ring through Congregation Emeth in Morgan Hill for the upcoming High Holy Day services.
Congregation Emeth, serving southern Santa Clara County, will be offering a variety of High Holy...
Religion: A Thanksgiving invitation
All of South County is invited to the annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service, held Nov. 20 at Congregation Emeth, 17835 Monterey Street, Morgan Hill, beginning at 3pm. Clergy and lay leaders in the interfaith community who live in both Morgan Hill and Gilroy will participate....
Religion: The Meaning of Thanksgiving
I like etymologies, the origin of words. I like to play with words, especially in different languages. I think we often use words without really thinking about what they really mean and what they imply. “Thanks” is one of those words.
In English, the word...
Religion: Stand in holy places
I enjoy standing in holy places. In a world filled with chaos, contention and calamity, it’s important to take time to pause and stand in holy places to find peace. One of my favorite scriptures comes from our Doctrine and Covenants, Section 87, verse...
Local Scene: Interfaith Thanksgiving service is Nov. 24
Gilroy Life goes online only for rest of year
Local news publication Gilroy Life has ceased printing its paper edition until the end of this year following the September death of publisher Marty Cheek, according to Gilroy Life editor Robert Airoldi. The publication will continue...
Religion: Interfaith CommUNITY invites all to Thanksgiving gathering
The Interfaith CommUNITY of South County (ICSC) and the Interfaith Clergy Alliance of South County invite all residents of Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy to join us for our annual Thanksgiving gathering at 3pm Nov. 20. We will meet at Congregation Emeth, 17835...
Religion: Response to a Vocal Minority
In the San Francisco Bay Area, we seem to be in a bubble of more open-minded thinking and inclusion. There are other places, regions and states that seem to be filled with fear of the outsider and suspicion of neighbors of different ethnicity, national...
Religion: Banish the Darkness, Spread the Light
As we approach the darkest time of the year, Jews prepare to celebrate Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights. The ancient story took place in the 2nd century BCE during the reign of Syrian-Greek King Antiochus IV. He imposed harsh decrees upon the Jews forbidding...
Religion: ‘Perhaps you were created for such a time as this’
Think about a time in your life where you displayed courage. What gave you the strength to engage in this action?
The Latin root of the word courage is “cor” which means heart. In Judaism, the name for courage is Ometz Lev—Heart Strength.
In a few...




















