91快活林

When Prayer is Not Enough

Jan 30, 2026 By Cantor Rabbi Shoshi Levin Goldberg | Commentary | Beshallah

You may know this joke: a man is drowning in the ocean and several people with boats come to rescue him. He responds to each of them, 鈥淣o, thank you. I鈥檝e been praying, and God will save me.鈥� When the man arrives in heaven, angry with God, God asks him, 鈥淲hy didn鈥檛 you get on the boats I sent?鈥�

Prayer is rarely enough. Jewish leaders are acutely aware of this reality today. Cantors, in particular, know that there is far more to our jobs than leading prayer.

How Can We Be a Blessing?

Nov 8, 2024 By Cantor Rabbi Shoshi Levin Goldberg | Commentary | Lekh Lekha

I have often pondered the meaning of the expression that a deceased person鈥檚 memory should be a blessing or will be for a blessing. Proverbs 10:7 teaches that 鈥渢he name of a righteous person is invoked in blessing鈥濃�斪栔抵Ｗ浿蹲� 爪址汁讚执旨讬拽 诇执讘职专指讻指謶讛 . Originally, this likely referred to invoking the name of a well-known righteous person as an exemplar and conduit for our own blessing. The Babylonian Talmud also teaches (Kiddushin 31b) that after the death of a parent, we may continue to fulfill the mitzvah of honoring our parents, and by extension other beloved relatives and friends, by saying 鈥渮ikhronam livrakhah,鈥� 鈥渕ay their memory be for a blessing.鈥�