Thank you, and upcoming events
Dear Friends, I want to start by saying thank you. Thank you so much for your collective response to our call for contributions at the end of the year to help us meet this community’s needs. We exceeded our ambitious goal of $45,000 and it makes such a difference in our efforts to continue to […]
Gut-Wrenching Reporting
Dear Friends, It is heartbreaking to continue to reflect on the war flowing out of the October 7 massacre. I wrestle with whether ongoing commentary from me is worthwhile or whether we all just need a break. Of course we recognize that Israelis and Palestinians do not have a break from this endless conflict. So […]
A Different Kind Of Hanukkah
You all think you know the story of Hanukkah, don’t you? You think it’s about that little vial of oil that was only supposed to be enough to keep the temple menorah lit for one night and yet lasted for eight. Or perhaps you say, not so fast that’s the myth of the rabbis; the […]
Three Really Hard Incidents in Philadelphia This Week
Dear Friends, The reverberations and fallout from the October 7 massacre persist. Of course within Israel—victims and hostages and their families, soldiers and their families, and really every citizen of Israel experiencing their world turned upside down; for residents of the West Bank and Gaza, increased violence all around them, the death toll rising in […]
Pain, Heartbreak, and the Voices of our Parents
This week’s parashah is action packed. It begins with our ancestor Jacob preparing to meet his twin brother Esau for the first time since Jacob deceived their father Isaac and stole the sacred blessing from him; it also includes that seminal moment in Israelite history when Jacob wrestled with the divine figure and thus received […]