Rabbi Steven Abraham

A new pope has been elected. White smoke has risen, bells have rung, and the world now turns its attention to St. Peter’s Square. For many Catholics, this is a moment of awe, reverence, and global significance. But for Jews—watching from a distance yet never entirely outside the frame—it’s something else too: a moment to ask how far we’ve come, and how much closer we might yet draw. To be clear, most Jews don’t follow papal politics with bated breath. The Vatican is not our home turf. The … [Read more...]

Last week, a Barstool Sports affiliate posted a short video clip from a bar crawl in Boston that quickly went viral—and for all the wrong reasons. The host, microphone in hand, accosted a Jewish man wearing a Magen David necklace and asked him if he wanted to buy the bar. When the man declined, the host smirked and muttered, “What kind of Jew are you?” Then he uploaded the exchange to Barstool’s social platforms, where it was played for laughs. In the aftermath, a predictable series of … [Read more...]

“Acharei mot shnei bnei Aharon”—after the death of Aaron’s two sons. That’s how Parashat Achrei Mot opens. It’s not just a timestamp. It’s a theology. The Torah names grief as the setting for the next revelation. Not as a footnote. As a precondition. And what follows is one of the Torah’s most urgent and morally demanding sections: “You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy” (Kedoshim tihyu, ki kadosh ani YHVH Eloheichem). This is no accident. The demand for holiness comes precisely … [Read more...]

Every year on Shavuot, we dust off the Book of Ruth and return to a familiar figure: the Moabite woman who becomes the great-grandmother of King David. But in liberal Jewish spaces, Ruth is more than a literary ancestor—she has become the paradigmatic convert. How many women who join the Jewish people take the name Ruth as their own? How many rabbis quote her declaration—"Your people shall be my people, and your God my God" (Ruth 1:16)—under the chuppah or at the mikveh? In many Reform and … [Read more...]

Ruth is the paradigm for liberal Jewish conversions—rooted in personal choice, moral clarity, and an unshakable commitment to the Jewish people. She joins not through pedigree or paperwork, but through fierce loyalty and love. "Your people shall be my people, and your God my God" (Ruth 1:16). We quote her at conversion ceremonies. We read her story on Shavuot. She is our model. But here’s the uncomfortable question: Would Ruth have been accepted? Not just today, under the Chief … [Read more...]

This week’s double portion, Achrei Mot–Kedoshim, stands among the most spiritually demanding and ethically resonant sections of the Torah. It juxtaposes two modes of experience—grief and transcendence. The first words, “Acharei mot shnei b’nei Aharon”—“After the death of Aaron’s two sons” (Leviticus 16:1)—cast a long and mournful shadow. Yet only a few chapters later we hear the revolutionary imperative: “Kedoshim tihyu ki kadosh ani”—“You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy” … [Read more...]

Among the most disorienting experiences of human life is illness—not only because of physical pain, but because of the social and spiritual dislocation that often accompanies it. Illness isolates. It marks us as other. It humbles, even humiliates. It calls into question our place in the world, and at times, our worth within it. In Tazria-Metzora, the Torah places illness not in the domain of the physician, but in the hands of the kohen, the priest. The afflicted individual, bearing the signs … [Read more...]

In a recent report released by the Jewish Federations of North America, we learned that Jewish day schools across the United States are now spending, on average, 84% more on security since October 7, 2023. That number isn’t just a budget adjustment—it’s a moral wake-up call. We’ve come to call it the “Antisemitism Tax,” the cost we pay just to live openly as Jews. Not to grow, not to innovate, not to dream—but to defend. And while Jewish history is filled with tolls and taxes levied against … [Read more...]

The holiest thing I’ve ever seen wasn’t a Torah scroll being lifted at Neilah. It wasn’t a perfectly chanted Haftarah, or a soaring rendition of Kol Nidre. It wasn’t even a moment in synagogue at all. It was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone—standing at the edge of something so vast, so humbling, so ancient, that all I could do was whisper Mah rabu ma’asecha Adonai—how great are Your works, God. I didn’t say it aloud. I didn’t need to. The canyon itself was saying it for me. Another time, I … [Read more...]

There is no shofar blast. No candle lighting. No sacred text being chanted. And yet, every spring, as the Stanley Cup Playoffs unfold, I find myself watching one of the holiest traditions in modern life: The hockey handshake line. For the uninitiated, here’s what happens: after a grueling playoff series—often a best-of-seven matchup that features fights, slashes, body checks, and goals that break hearts—players from both teams line up at center ice. Helmets off. Gloves off. One by one, … [Read more...]