It’s a typical work from home Friday. I futz with the challah, started and refrigerated the night before, help my husband feed the girls breakfast and get them off to daycare, start to go through the pile of emails that have magically appeared overnight. Eventually I shower. While at the dry cleaners, with the clock … More »
How long can one person be alone before they begin to suffer? In Jonah’s case, the answer is three days and three nights. Cast into the sea and swallowed by a big fish in return for his stubbornness towards God, he stews and simmers until his loneliness gets to be too much for him. Jonah’s … More »
I’m a dual citizen. I was born to Canadian parents in New York, and the fact that I am American at all is an accident of timing. “The baby” unexpectedly was born a month early, 3 days before my mother was supposed to fly back to Toronto to have “the baby” at home, because “the … More »
I do Jewish social justice for a living—deep, complicated campaigns that require a grasp of political and legal issues beyond the headlines and shouting points. Since my ordination as a rabbi four years ago, my work at Rabbis for Human Rights-North America has enabled me to delve into philosophic books about torture, questions of constitutional … More »
Growing up, my grandmother’s cooking was legendary, not just for what she created in the kitchen (especially her baked goods) but for the creative ways it was deployed. My grandfather—a farmer and cattle dealer—often brought his business associates home for dinner, in large numbers and at short notice. I would hear stories from my mother’s … More »
Sometimes I feel like corporations think we can consume our way to a better world. If we only buy the right (green/local/organic/fair trade) products, we will make things better. Or we buy something and it makes a donation to a cause. What a bargain! I got to take something home and someone else got helped. … More »
I’m an anchor baby. Born in the U.S. while my Canadian father was in rabbinical school, I was supposed to be born in Toronto. Indeed, my mother had plane tickets for Canada three days after my sister and I came a month early, surprise twins. I’m not supposed to be an American. But I am, … More »
The Torah is replete with hero narratives, stories of brave men who set out into the unknown and return changed men, rewarded by God for their daring to set out into the wilderness. Abram goes to the place God will show him in return for countless blessings. Jacob flees his brother, discovers that “God was … More »
When I started working for Rabbis for Human Rights-North America over four years ago, I was told by our then Chairperson Rabbi Gerry Serotta that one of the goals of the organization was to make December 10, International Human Rights Day, a day of yom tov for the Jewish community. RHR-NA uses the lens of … More »