As expected, everyone is thinking, talking, and praying about Israel right now. Perhaps we feel as though there is a tether tied around our own hearts and identities, and its opposite end is bound up in Israel’s future. Or maybe as North American Jews, we are frightened for our loved ones who live there and … More »
In the midst of the various “Occupy” movements that emerge and disappear even more rapidly than Shabbatot in the winter, I tend to wonder if we as a global Jewish community are speaking as loudly and defiantly as we think we are. Younger generations of Jews are propelling a “post-denominational” identity as a statement against … More »
“I felt my legs were praying,” Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote in a private memo, circa 1965. The words described his march alongside Martin Luther King Jr. as the two advocated for African American voting rights in Selma, Alabama. The iconic black-and-white photograph depicting Rabbi Heschel and Dr. King walking side by side is a … More »
While December is often a month fraught with religious tension for some interfaith couples, November can actually be even more contentious for politically mixed couples. The notorious “December Dilemma” signifies the manifold tensions and decision-making intermarried couples face regarding reconciling two different faiths at a particular time of the year. The phrase seems to have … More »
Sitting in my e-mail in-box, as I sit to write this over Thanksgiving weekend, is an e-mail from the Board of Rabbis of Southern California, including an announcement of a program at a nearby synagogue. The title of the program is “Women at the Wall: Prayer or Provocation?” The write-up the event includes this statement: … More »
Every couple of months the Jewish press of the Diaspora or Israel offers us a new installment of a riveting story: descendants of Sephardic Jews forced to convert during the time of the Inquisition return to their roots after centuries of hidden Jewish life. These benei anousim (“sons of the forced”) have become a frequent … More »
In a cramped stone building in Tzfat, an elderly woman is preheating her oven as the first rays of morning sun sneak in through the shutters. “It’s a bit early for baking,” I say. “Moshiach is coming,” she replies. “When he arrives, he will be hungry. Warm bread is good for the nefesh.” I smile … More »
When I’m walking down the street and someone asks me for money, I will make every attempt to give them something. If I only have $20 bills, I’m not quite willing to give that amount, but some change or a dollar seems appropriate. Our tradition, from the Torah to the Prophets to early rabbinic works … More »
What makes denominations unique? What are their boundaries? How open are their doors? These questions are important and their answers may be divisive and alienating to some. Personally, I believe in the pluralism of Judaism but also, the oneness of the Jewish people. As a rabbi in training, I am simply more interested in what … More »