Should I Stay or Should I Go?
As an irrepressible, even relentless, optimist, I hold great hope for Jewish life in America. I wonder if that is because I fell in love with Judaism as an adult. It is true that I carry no terrible...
View ArticleAccumulating Things Or, Then Again … Nothing
We read in Pirke Avot, the Ethics of the Sages: “Who is happy?” The answer: “The one who is satisfied with one’s lot.” But what happens when one’s lot comes to be measured by a lot… of stuff? I...
View ArticleDrawn to the Light
One of my favorite poets, a slam poet named Vanessa Hidary, asks, in one of her remarkable pieces in which she confronts stereotyping of Jews: “What does Jewish look like to you?” Last week, the idea...
View ArticleJewish Goodbyes
This is the season of goodbyes. I hold my breath while listening to my son say goodbye, with humor and grace, to the school he has attended for “more than two-thirds of his life.” As he recognizes the...
View ArticleWhat Makes A Rabbi A Rabbi?
Rabbis are rabbis in no small part by the work they do, pastoral, ritual, social justice, organizational, all informed by a sense of responsibility to the community and to tradition. But at the moment...
View ArticleAn African American Jew Journeys to Orthodoxy
Life is a journey for each of us. It’s full of twists and turns and sometimes things happen to us without us understanding the reason why. Both sides of my family came to Judaism from Christianity. My...
View Article18 Years in the Rabbinate – 18 Lessons Learned
I love being a rabbi. I cannot imagine doing or being anything else. I am proud of my work for the past 18 years. I am also proud that my 18th year in the rabbinate marks a significant change, as I...
View ArticleRosh Hashanah: Get Woke
During the High Holiday period, we expect a great deal from ourselves. Putting aside the business of material holiday preparation (meals! more meals! house cleaning for guests!) we also understand this...
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At This Point in Time
Last week, all around the country, people stayed awake late into the night and took to the streets. The U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development, in order to designate funds to cities that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Modern-Day Moses: The Heroes Who Saved Ethiopian Jews
When he was 10 years old, filmmaker Avishai Mekonen walked from Ethiopia to Sudan and was eventually taken to Israel. As an adult, he began to wonder how that journey came to be and his research led to...
View ArticleAccumulating Things Or, Then Again … Nothing
We read in Pirke Avot, the Ethics of the Sages: “Who is happy?” The answer: “The one who is satisfied with one’s lot.” But what happens when one’s lot comes to be measured by a lot… of stuff? I...
View ArticleDrawn to the Light
One of my favorite poets, a slam poet named Vanessa Hidary, asks, in one of her remarkable pieces in which she confronts stereotyping of Jews: “What does Jewish look like to you?” Last week, the idea...
View ArticleJewish Goodbyes
This is the season of goodbyes. I hold my breath while listening to my son say goodbye, with humor and grace, to the school he has attended for “more than two-thirds of his life.” As he recognizes the...
View ArticleWhat Makes A Rabbi A Rabbi?
Rabbis are rabbis in no small part by the work they do, pastoral, ritual, social justice, organizational, all informed by a sense of responsibility to the community and to tradition. But at the moment...
View ArticleAn African American Jew Journeys to Orthodoxy
Life is a journey for each of us. It’s full of twists and turns and sometimes things happen to us without us understanding the reason why. Both sides of my family came to Judaism from Christianity. My...
View Article18 Years in the Rabbinate – 18 Lessons Learned
I love being a rabbi. I cannot imagine doing or being anything else. I am proud of my work for the past 18 years. I am also proud that my 18th year in the rabbinate marks a significant change, as I...
View ArticleRosh Hashanah: Get Woke
During the High Holiday period, we expect a great deal from ourselves. Putting aside the business of material holiday preparation (meals! more meals! house cleaning for guests!) we also understand this...
View ArticleClik here to view.
At This Point in Time
Last week, all around the country, people stayed awake late into the night and took to the streets. The U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development, in order to designate funds to cities that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Modern-Day Moses: The Heroes Who Saved Ethiopian Jews
When he was 10 years old, filmmaker Avishai Mekonen walked from Ethiopia to Sudan and was eventually taken to Israel. As an adult, he began to wonder how that journey came to be and his research led to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mindful or MindFULL These Holidays?
The holidays are a busy time — a time where we are supposed to spend the entire Hebrew month of Elul leading up to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur thinking about ourselves, reflecting, and beginning our...
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