Rabbi Cy Stanway's Podcast

Send us Fan Mail My Shanna Tova thoughts

Send us Fan Mail A short High Holiday thought

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I explore why a simple produce tithe turned into a whole megillah of Jewish history.

Send us Fan Mail In this episode I speak about the interesting ritual of bikkurim and the text reminding us where we have been and where we are now.

Send us Fan Mail This is my Parashat Shoftim discussion with the congregation during Shabbat morning service

Send us Fan Mail A Shabbat reflection on tzedek, tzedek tirdof - justice, justice you shall pursue

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Send us Fan Mail A short thought on Parashat Eikev. Justice and love - and how they are so closely dependent upon each other.

Send us Fan Mail The Torah drops a line that sounds impossible to reconcile: Moses tells Israel that God didn’t choose them because they were numerous, “for you are the fewest of all peoples.” But wait, aren’t Abraham’s descendants promised to be like the stars and the sand? And weren’t the Israelites so many in Egypt that Pharaoh panicked and enslaved them? We take that tension seriously, because it’s not just a textual problem, it’s a blueprint for Jewish identity. We walk through ho...

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Send us Fan Mail Shabbat Hazon is the Shabbat before Tisha B'av and gets its name from the prophet Isaiah who 'saw' (Hazon) the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. I offer a couple of thoughts about how we can commemorate this moment in Jewish history.

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Send us Fan Mail In this episode I riff on Parashat Pinchas and the different kinds of leadership hinted at in the text.

Send us Fan Mail I am delighted to be the Senior Interim Rabbi of B'nai Israel this year! This is the audio from my 'Happy to be Here' video!

Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Stanway and Rabbi Garten discuss the most troubling story of Aaron and Moses and the episode of 'the thing that must not be mentioned'!

Send us Fan Mail In this CHRI episode, Rabbi Stanway discusses the portion Vaeira with Rabbi Steve Garten, specifically the disputation with God and Abraham around Sodom and Gommorah and the Binding of Isaac.

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Send us Fan Mail After 27 years, my tenure at Beth Miriam has come to an end as I head into serving a wonderful interim congregation in Gainesville Florida for the year. This last service excerpt features a couple of speakers, a presentation, a blessing and my personal remarks.

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Send us Fan Mail In this dvar Torah, I reflect on the Torah portion and its connection to the Aaron Family and my one bright vision for Temple Beth Miriam in the future. My 27 years of service to the temple is coming to an end on May 30, 2025 as I embark on an interim career serving other congregations and, though there are decades of memories and hopes, this sermon reflects a hope that is filled with light.

Send us Fan Mail Passover and memory....past and present

Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Stanway and Rabbi Steve Garten discuss this week's parasha and focus on the meaning of Shabbat, especially in a modern society.

Send us Fan Mail The Bibas family has inadvertently become the new symbol for the Palestinians - and it isn't flattering.

Send us Fan Mail My thoughts on the hostage release.

Send us Fan Mail In this dear Torah, I reflect on the comments made by one of our congregants, Grace, who has now been declared cancer-free. Her words were the perfect jump off point to my reflections on how we as a congregation move forward. Grace's comments are included as the first part of this recording.

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Send us Fan Mail In this sermon for Yom Kippur morning, I tell the true story of one of my chaplaincy patients and the lesson she taught me that I carry with me to this day.

Send us Fan Mail In this sermon I discuss the opportunities and challenges to being a beacon in a dark and angry world

Send us Fan Mail Stella Stanway shares her reflections about being in Israel immediately after October 7

Send us Fan Mail Rosh Hashanna Morning Sermon 2025

Send us Fan Mail This year has been filled with brokenness. How do we as Jews react? How should we be living?

Send us Fan Mail A short d'var Torah on Karachi and just one small lesson his little rebellion can teach us.

Send us Fan Mail The audio of Skylar's bat mitzvah sermon - June 14, 2024

Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Stanway's remarks during the Community Yom HaShoah event, May 2024.

Send us Fan Mail https://templebethmiriam.org/birthright-to-israel-jacob-swartz/

Send us Fan Mail In this short d'var Torah, I point out the use of a strangely worded command and what it may mean on this Shabbat.

Send us Fan Mail In these days of rising anti-Semitism on the cusp of Hannukah, I ask the question, 'How do you identify?'

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Send us Fan Mail I offer a few thoughts about Veterans' Day and the reality of war

Send us Fan Mail On the 85 anniversary of Kristallnacht, I offer these thoughts in light of the violence toward Jews in 2023

Send us Fan Mail My reflections on the last four weeks.

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Send us Fan Mail In this sermon I take a phrase from Jeremiah and apply it to this Yom Kippur.

Send us Fan Mail These are my reflections after the first full week of war in the MidEast.

Send us Fan Mail In this sermon, I speak about our brokenness and how, despite it, we can create.

Send us Fan Mail In this sermon, I discuss the Jewish ideas of a good year, not necessarily a happy year.

Send us Fan Mail My reflections on the titanic changes in Israel that may create another failed Maccabean state.

Send us Fan Mail In this periodic radio appearance, I speak with Rabbi Steven Garten about Moses' punishment for hitting the rock (twice) to provide water for the Israelites even though God told him to speak to the rock.

Send us Fan Mail This is the audio of the Siyym service for 2023, the last Kabbalat Shabbat Family service led by our upper grades. The video with audio can be found at this link: https://Temple-Beth-Miriam.livecontrol.tv/3e51d9b5

Send us Fan Mail In this d'var Torah, I explore Ramban's interpretation of “The Eternal One spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai” and what it mean's for us today as autonomous Jews.

Send us Fan Mail In this dvar Torah I discuss the hazard of literally reading the passages such as 'an eye for an eye' which so many people ascribe to. I argue that the Rabbis were much more advanced than sticking to the literal text and that tradition of interpretation created what we now call Judaism

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Send us Fan Mail In this d'var Torah, I explore the meaning of the portion dealing with the leper in today's Torah portion. I discover it is relevant today as it was thousands of years ago.

Send us Fan Mail In this episode I discuss the death of Nadav and Abihu and Aaron's (non)reaction and what it has to teach us.

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Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I introduce you to Nachson ben Aminadav, a leader as brave as Moses but totally unknown to most people. Who was he? What did he do? Tune in a find out.

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I explore with the congregants a discussion about our own Passover traditions and how unique and perfectly valid they are.

Send us Fan Mail In this short d'var Torah, I discuss what happens when we only focus on the task at hand and what happens if we neglect to pay attention to the souls surrounding us.

Send us Fan Mail A d'var Torah on the light that burns inside us - internal and eternal.

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Send us Fan Mail The funeral on Sunday, Feb 5 for Dr. Ed Lieberman:

Send us Fan Mail In this d'var Torah I explore as aspect of Pharoah's strangest request on the very cusp of his letting the Jews out of Egyptian bondage.

Send us Fan Mail In this d'var Torah, I speak of the strangeness of 'Jewish theology' and whatever the heck that is!

Send us Fan Mail In this d'var Torah, I speak of the strangest week I think I have ever had and how it seams so wonderfully with this weeks Torah portion, Vayechi

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Send us Fan Mail In this dvar Torah, I speak about one part of today's in-vogue anti-Semitism: the angels that are speaking up in the gentile communities, the LGBTQ communities and the African American communities - all allies against hate.

Send us Fan Mail This is a short dvar Torah on the beginning of the portion Hayyai Sarah, the portion describing Abraham's purchase of a burial place for Sarah and the strange way the portion opens by describing her age in a unique way. What does it mean?

Send us Fan Mail The full service audio from the memorial service for Norma Rosenbloom, long time member of Beth Miriam and activist in the community and politics since the 1940's. May her soul be bound up in the bonds of life and may her memory be a blessing.

Send us Fan Mail Noah is not a child's story. It is deadly serious. And its lessons for us today in the midst of strife and war are worth heeding.

Send us Fan Mail West Long Branch, NJ/Brooklyn, NY Jackie passed away on October 16th in Brooklyn after a brief illness. She was born in New York City and grew up in West Long Branch with a passion for singing/acting and sports. She began vocal training at age 8, and performed duets with the children’s performer Jonathan Sprout on two of his albums. Upon entering Shore Regional High School, she joined Shore Players and won the part of Peter Pan, the only freshman to ever get the lead in...

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Send us Fan Mail In this sermon, I discuss the repentance the Reform movement has had to undergo. As well, in the middle of the sermon a page was missing and I punted. I kept the entire sermon as it was delivered to present the authentic experience, warts and all. Listen to the very end....the lost page turned out to be a great teaching moment!

Send us Fan Mail This is the Yom Kippur morning sermon which speaks about our essential goodness in spite of the fact that the noise of people's evil inclination gets all the attention.

Send us Fan Mail This is my Rosh Hashanna morning sermon for 2022.

Send us Fan Mail Two Tornadoes An erev Rosh Hashanna sermon about restoring balance in our unbalanced world

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Send us Fan Mail The Russian barbarity in Ukraine has brought out the best in so many people. In this sermon I discuss the experiences I had in Poland bring help to and bearing witness to the situation of the Ukrainian refugees forced to flee their homes. Their pain is immeasurable and their determination inspiring. I speak about this profoundly life-altering trip and hope that you, too, consider helping these people. https://www.friendsofjcckrakow.org/ukraine

Send us Fan Mail A trip through the archives on my thoughts from Erev Passover, 2020

Send us Fan Mail A short meditation on the war in Ukraine and the sacrifices we make

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Send us Fan Mail The Disappearing Glacier In this sermon, I share the thoughts of our ever-changing climate and the spiritual response to it.

Send us Fan Mail Community Trust Rosh Hashanna Morning 2021 Rabbi Cy Stanway In this sermon I discuss the fundamental shift in our synagogues to a selfie-centered one and away from its real value: the soulful need for a community.

Send us Fan Mail In this short essay, I share some of my thoughts about the Chauvin trial, verdict and the little and big injustices we encounter - or contribute to - each day.

Send us Fan Mail In this short episode, I consider the Atlanta shooter's racism and his feelings of relative impunity, his premeditation and his sense that the politicians he identified with would smile at his massacre.

Send us Fan Mail In this short episode, I reflect on the concept of Yom Kippur of wearing a mask and the ethical shortcoming in not doing so.

Send us Fan Mail In this short reflection, I give my reaction to the new racist Georgia law that is so blatantly voter suppressive, it comes right out of Nuremburg.

Send us Fan Mail In this short commentary, Rabbi Stanway reflects on what our response ought to be and can be in the shadow of the violent events at the Capitol on January 6, 2021

Send us Fan Mail In this podcast I explore the idea of the metaphor of the Jabbok, the essential change of Jacob and Esau and the bravery it takes to leave your old self behind but having first to expose it, not repress it.

Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Stanway's Yom Kippur morning sermon from Temple Beth Miriam, Elberon, NJ. The question of the Days of Awe.....Now What?

Send us Fan Mail The Corona and the Crown - Distancing from our ugly selves to embrace who we think we really are. Yom Kippur Evening Sermon 2020

Send us Fan Mail Rosh Hashanna morning sermon from Temple Beth Miriam. Keeping the Ner Tamid alive and burning.

Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Cy Stanway's Erev Rosh Hashanna sermon

Send us Fan Mail In this episode I respond to the call to open up all the schools and ponder the wisdom.