Infertility sounds like a unilateral and conclusive word. It sounds like a permanent state, an identity, predetermining a single possible outcome to the challenge of trying to conceive a child. But those struggling with infertility know that there are as many diagnoses as there are individuals bearing the label. And the conclusions to the shared … More »
Until this year, I’d never marked its anniversary: September 13, 2001. Yes, it was two days after 9/11/01: where headlines like “Airport Security Needs Improvement” and “Islam Must Challenge Its Dark Doctrines” were on the front pages of every newspaper. There were fears of Anthrax attacks in every unopened envelope, suspicions about seemingly every brown-faced … More »
I took this photograph when I was in high school, on a “Jewish Heritage Trip to New York City”. Now twenty years later, this image is all I think of when I remember that trip. As a 16-year old visiting New York, this man (and the flurry of city movement behind him) was a “site” … More »
If you surveyed adult Jews about the Biblical stories they remember from their Jewish education, it’s unlikely that the ritual recounted during the Avodah service would make that list. And yet, it’s most likely to be the portion they’ve heard read in synagogue more than any other (as Yom Kippur is a probable day for … More »
Years ago, when I was a student rabbi traveling twice monthly to my internship/pulpit, I had the opportunity to meet Sin, face to face. She had brown eyes, gentle and kind, and her gaze seemed to plead for forgiveness even before she’d uttered a word. It was my first time playing the role of Clergy (or, The One Who … More »
In London Heathrow Airport, an eclectic group assembles around the El Al gate, several hours prior to the time appointed for boarding the flight: one young bearded man with a large velvet kippa; a slender blonde sporting a tank top, jeans, and a plastic duty-free shopping bag; and two women with dark curls to match … More »
I think a lot about the idea (and reality!) of covenant in my work as the Director of the Berit Mila Program of Reform Judaism. Our program educates Jewish physicians and nurse midwives already proficient in performing infant circumcision about the specifically Jewish ritual of brit milah. Many of these medical practitioners become mohalim in … More »
I’ve waited until the last minute to write this blog, mainly because the prospect of broaching the subject of conversion to Judaism necessitates that I look squarely into the face of a conversation I try to avoid: it’s about intermarriage. As a Reform rabbi, I (unlike my colleagues ordained by the Conservative or Orthodox movements) … More »