How Exile Shows Up In Our Lives
Starting Wednesday night and continuing through Thursday, we honor Tishah B’Av, the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av, the date which commemorates numerous tragedies over the course of Jewish history, including and especially the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash, the Temple in Jerusalem, the focal point of Jewish worship in ancient times, where Jews would bring the […]
The Special Time of Jewish Weddings, Tragedy in Philly, and Turmoil in Israel
Dear Friends, I just got back from a brief vacation in Portland, Oregon where Caroline and I attended my sister’s wedding, which I was honored to officiate. Jewish (and presumably all) weddings are aimed at capturing an experience that can seemingly transcend time: the sheva berachot, the seven blessings that make up part of the Jewish […]
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 […]
A Dayenu Moment in Tennessee, Violence in Israel
Dear Friends, I write this week in part to speak up about what I see as a dayeinu moment in Tennessee. Dayenu is of course the song we sing during the Passover seder that comes on the heels of the recitation of the ten plagues, contrasting these plagues with the manifold blessings we have experienced from the Divine. We […]
Israel’s Democracy on Pause: A Victory for Popular Protest and Judicial Balance
Dear Friends, What a week it’s been in Israel. We are in the midst of marking the 75th anniversary of the creation of the State of Israel, and never before has the country seen popular protests of this magnitude. Just today, over 100,000 people have been protesting outside the compound housing the Knesset, Israel’s legislature, […]