The Enduring Sacredness Of The Synagogue
Rosh Hashanah 5784 I have to say, I never imagined myself here. I never imagined myself as a pulpit rabbi. Many of you know that I had a brief foray as an attorney before this, and even when I got to rabbinical school, I didn’t imagine serving in a synagogue context. I imagined leaning on […]
To Life: Seven Points of Guidance for The Synagogue Service-going Experience
Erev Rosh Hashanah, Society Hill Synagogue, 5784 Judaism is not a religion that is often closely associated with math; most of us rabbis got into this business precisely to avoid it, but I want to get into just a little bit of addition with you. Ready? Tonight’s service is approximately an hour and a half. […]
Welcoming Guests and Embracing Openness: A Reflection on Hachnasat Orchim and the Spirit of Community
Last year, when we inaugurated this version of our Open House Shabbat, which begins with our first TGIShabbat after a Summer Break and extends through tomorrow morning, Shabbat morning, we did so through a teaching built around the Jewish value of Hachnasat Orchim, the welcoming of guests. We talked about how central a Jewish, and […]
High Holidays: Making Your Soul a Vessel for Change
For those of you, like me, who love a podcast, or who are exploring the medium, I loved being interviewed on the latest Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations podcast. You can listen to it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. It is titled, “High Holidays: Making Your Soul a Vessel for Change.” In it I share how you and […]
Ever-Relevant Modes of Interpretation
One of the highlights of my summer—besides discovering my four-year-old daughter Lila’s obsession with being in the pool for hours on end; or my seventeen-month-old-Nina’s increasingly adorable pronunciation of Aba (dad, in Hebrew); or the few extra hours here and there that I’ve gotten to spend with Caroline… Okay, so one of the professional highlights of my summer, and […]