Tribute to Rabbi Avi, my Mentor and Friend
I’ve been waiting a long time for this opportunity—the opportunity to pay tribute to a cherished mentor and a dear friend, Rabbi Avi Winokur. The annals of synagogue histories are replete with stories of contentiousness between Senior Rabbis and Rabbis Emeritus. Not here. Not with Rabbi Winokur. No one with his generosity of spirit nor […]
What the Shabbat Prayers May Be Saying
Many of you have heard me say it a million times by now. “Now is the time of the silent offering of the amidah, the offering of the heart. You’re invited to offer up whatever prayers you have using the words on the page or the words of your heart.” I often feel like the […]
A Bar Mitzvah Student Grapples with the Scapegoat • (Im)purity: Alienation vs Integration
Dear Friends, This Shabbat, we celebrated the Bar Mitzvah for Elias Zaring. Elias’s parashah, as will be discussed below, was the double portion of achareit-mot/kedoshim, two portions in the midst of the book of Leviticus that include the portion that is read each year on Yom Kippur, involving the ritual of “the scapegoat,” where the High […]
Yom Hazikaron | Israel at 75 | Yom Hashoah
Yom Hazikaron – Memorial Day This evening, Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day, (whose full official name is Yom Hazikaron Lehalelei Ma’arkhot Yisrael Ul’nifge’ei Pe’ulot Haeivah/Memorial Day for the Fallen Soldiers of the Wars of Israel and Victims of Actions of Terrorism) begins. It is followed immediately tomorrow night with the beginning of Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel’s […]
The Omer: counting the in-between moments
Dear Friends, Here are the remarks I delivered this past Friday at services on a special Jewish ritual at this time of year: *** A ritual that we’re called upon to engage with at this time of year—a mitzvah, a sacred act that we’re called upon to fulfill—is sefirat haomer, the counting of the omer. In the Torah, […]