July 24, 2014 – Jerusalem, Israel This morning we woke up and headed north to Ramat Yishai to pay our respects to the family of Lt. Bar Rahav z"l. We Spoke to the family, paying our respects…thanking them for their son’s service to his country. I will admit that for a group of rabbis, attending a shiva house is a pretty standard experience and yet this was so far from the ordinary. There are no words to describe the experience, except say that we were all heart broken, yet knew … [Read more...]
Rabbinical Assembly Solidarity Mission to Israel – Day 3
July 23, 2014 – Jerusalem, Israel We had planned to wake up Wednesday morning and head to Tel Aviv to meet with United States Ambassador to Israel. Unfortunately, his boss came to town, Secretary of State John Kerry and so the Ambassador had to cancel our meeting. What was set up instead was quite possibly even more interesting for our group. We started the morning off by driving to Kehillat Ya’ar Ramot in Jerusalem. At the Kehilla we heard from Ms. Talia Levanon, Director of the Israel … [Read more...]
Rabbinical Assembly Solidarity Mission to Israel – Day 2
July 22, 2014 – Jerusalem, Israel What a day… This morning began like most, davening shacharit then onto breakfast. The beauty of this specific morning was that we prayed at Congregation Moreshet Yisrael, which is on the campus of the Fuchsberg Center for Conservative Judaism. The Fuchsberg Center is a place I know well, having spent a year of my life living within its walls as a staff member on NATIV. It was wonderful to be back, to see old friends and to reminisce. Yet while everyone spoke … [Read more...]
Rabbinical Assembly Solidarity Mission to Israel – Day 1
July 21, 2014 – Jerusalem, Israel I was filled with emotions as I boarded my flight to Israel last night. Excited to see friends and colleagues, but also anxious to see and hear for myself about the situation on the ground. I was immediately excited by the shear number of people aboard my flight…fear was not holding people back. Upon landing in Israel I began to notice one slight difference from all my other visits, the country appeared to be quieter. Almost as if the country is tuned in to … [Read more...]
Agree or Disagree with Israel…Apathy is not an option!
Shabbat Pinchas 5774 I once had a teacher that looked at his students and proclaimed that we were free to agree with his views or, should we so choose, to disagree. What was not allowed was to say “I don’t care.” To agree or to disagree was to forge an opinion, to say I don’t care, to be apathetic is to stand on the sidelines. Perhaps Elie Wiesel said it best: “The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s … [Read more...]
Jewish Camp Trend-Spotting: 10 Ways a Summer Ritual Is Changing – Forward.com
Jewish Camp Trend-Spotting: 10 Ways a Summer Ritual Is Changing – Forward.comBy far the best part of my job is when I get to visit our youngest congregants at Jewish summer camp. It is an infusion of Jewish identity that our youth cannot get anywhere else. It’s a privilege getting to spend a few days with them, and seeing their joy in being Jewish. … [Read more...]
Pidyon Shvuyim – The Ransoming of Captives
In Jewish tradition there is a rabbinic mandate to ransom captives (pidyon shvuyim), to bring them home to their families. This mitzvah (commandment) is fleshed out in Tractate Bava Batra 8b. The debate over pidyon shvuyim is one of the most hotly debated in Israeli politics. The conversation of how many live terrorists to trade for one soldiers life or as it has happened in the past, how many live terrorists to trade for the body of an Israeli soldier so he can be finally be given a Jewish … [Read more...]
Happy Birthday Naama
In May 2011 I was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary. I thought, at the time, that the title of Rabbi was the greatest title I could ever earn. Then on June 9, 2011, only a few weeks later, our daughter Naama was born and I quickly realized the nothing beats the title of Abba. Thank you for learning to love sports, being the best running partner, teaching me to enjoy tea parties and for making me watch frozen. Happy Birthday Naama … [Read more...]
Parshat Naso – 5774 Adult Bnai Mitzvah Class
This morning was one of the most meaningful shabbat services at Beth El since I arrived. While the davening was beautiful and the kiddish was delicious my joy came from watching three members of our adult bnai mitzvah class proudly take an aliyah and read Torah. It was inspiring to see three adults, all with different backgrounds study with our Hazzan on a weekly basis to reach this point. What made the day even more special was that all three individuals had their children, all of whom are … [Read more...]
Camps Build Robots And Ruach | The Jewish Week
Camps Build Robots And Ruach | The Jewish Weekwhen did the fact that the camp was Jewish stop being enough of a specialty? at one time i felt strongly that specialized Jewish camps would lead to the end of Jewish camping. that specialization would lower the number of kids attending Ramah, Herzl, OSRUI …etc as no one would want to simply attend “Jewish” camp anymore, campers would flock to Jewish Science camp or Jewish Sports camp. What do you think, does specialization … [Read more...]