“There’s No Use Hidin’ It” Peter H. Grumbacher – Interim Rabbi Temple Beth El – Newark, Delaware Yom Kippur 5784 – September 25, 2023 ____________________ For those of you who’ve seen the movie Golda, you probably know that Helen Mirren sat for three hours every day to have the prostheses and makeup transform her into Golda Meir. And what a job they did! You’d never know it was Helen Mirren. On a smaller scale for sure, with...Read more...

“And Sarah Laughed…And So Should We” Peter H. Grumbacher – Interim Rabbi Temple Beth El – Newark, Delaware First Morning Rosh Hashanah 5784 – September 16, 2023 __________________________ In my teenage years The Lovin’ Spoonful sang a song called, “Do You Believe in Magic.” Does anybody remember that song? Well, be that as it may, we have to ask the same question regarding the miracle of Sarah’s pregnancy and Abraham’s...Read more...

“The Joke That Came Alive Before My Very Eyes Right Here in Temple Beth El!” Peter H. Grumbacher, Interim Rabbi August 25, 2023 A geniza is where Hebrew books, manuscripts and other papers were kept. Some were later buried. The oldest geniza is found in Cairo; when discovered in 1864 it was found to hold 280,000 Jewish manuscript fragments dating from 870 to the 19th century. There’s a joke that’s so old it was found in the Cairo...Read more...

“The Perfect Rabbi” Peter H. Grumbacher, Interim Rabbi Temple Beth El – Newark, Delaware – July 28, 2023 ____________________________________________ A couple of months after I came to Beth Emeth, we were standing in the receiving line following the service when, in front of the many people who were waiting to say, “Shabbat shalom” to me and the Senior Rabbi, one of the long-term congregants greeted me with, “You know, Rabbi,...Read more...