A Water-Optional Tashlich
When I was young, “doing tashlich” meant walking down to the little brook in our front yard and throwing in bread crumbs. Whether or not that water was actually moving was unclear, but we performed the mitzvah the way we knew how. Over the years, I’ve “cast my wrongs...
When Rosh Hashanah falls on 9/11
In 1945, a B-25 Mitchell bomber crashed into the Empire State Building between the 78th and 80th floors, killing 14 people. It was clearly an accident, so 17 years ago when I received a call at work that an airplane had crashed into one of the Twin Towers, I comforted...
Enchantment, the Talmud and Memory
When I was a teenager, I loved going to Rabbi Wallin’s Tuesday evening Talmud class. I can’t tell you anything that I learned all those years ago, but I fell in love with Talmud, the sing-song voice in which it was often read, and the interesting explanations and...
Hayom Harat Olam, the Birth-day of the World
After each of the sets of shofar blasts in our upcoming Musaf service, we’ll proclaim, Hayom Harat Olam! “Today is the birthday of the world.” It’s a very curious phrase, and the literal translation is, “today the world is pregnant–or gestating.” Where does this come...
Ki Tetze, He’s not heavy, he’s my brother(‘s ox)
This week’s Torah reading, Ki Tetze, might seem like a laundry list of rules, and those who like to count mitzvot in the different readings, claim that this parashah has more mitzvot than any other in the Torah. Most of the laws have to do with our interactions with...
Leveling the Playing Field
This week's Torah reading, Re’eh, presents an interesting progression of commandments regarding caring for the less fortunate in our communities and society. First we’re told, in Chapter 15 verses 4 and 5, "There shall be no needy among you, since the Lord your God...
A Gift for the One who has Everything
Most of us have had the dilemma, at one time or another, of trying to buy a gift for “the person who has everything.” We rack our brains trying to come up with something unique, something that person would love, but probably wouldn’t buy for him or herself. Gift cards...
Tisha B’Av – Beyond the Temple
Yesterday, on Tisha B’Av, the organization “Bend The Arc” held a gathering on the steps of the Nassau County Legislature building in Mineola to request that Nassau County stop cooperating with ICE. Tisha B’Av is the 9th day of the Hebrew month of Av, when we...
From Mourning to Dancing, the Relevance of Tisha B’Av Today
This week’s Torah reading, Devarim, is always read on the Shabbat immediately preceding the observance of Tisha B’av, which begins as Shabbat ends on July 22nd. On this day we mourn the destruction of both of our holy temples and other calamities that have befallen...
Abraham, Balaam and Blessings
In this week’s parashah we read about the pagan prophet Balaam, who is famous more for his talking donkey than for himself. The Cliff Notes version of the story is that Balak, the king of Moab, is worried that the Israelites who are now camped on his border, are so...
Silence, Grief and Water
In this week’s Torah reading, Hukkat, both Miriam and Aaron die, and Moses learns that he won’t be the one to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. The people are in the 39th year of their wandering Bamidbar Sinai, in the Sinai wilderness, and there are...
Korach, When Despair Leads to Disaster
I have always seen Korach, the character for whom this week’s Torah reading is named, as an example of how not to behave. That hasn’t changed, but as I began reading the parashah again, where Korach charges Moses and Aaron, madua titnasu al kahal ado-nai, “Why have...
Tweeting Under The Influence?
It’s certainly no longer news that the reprise of Roseanne Barr’s show was cancelled following a tweet comparing Obama aide Valerie Jarrett to an ape. In trying to defend herself, she claimed that the tweet was sent while she was under the influence of Ambien, a sleep...
Shabbat at Wendy’s, When Worlds and Values Collide
The saying in comedy that “timing is everything” pretty much applies to, well, everything. A couple of weeks ago, the independent documentary “Wendy’s Shabbat,” directed by Rachel Myers, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. If you’re not familiar with it, “Wendy’s...
What Were They Thinking???!!
When I subscribed to the Sunday The New York Times, the Magazine occasionally ran a featured called, “What They Were Thinking.” There would be a photo from several years earlier, and the subject or subjects of the photo tell the reporter what they remember thinking...
Latest Sermons
Vayechi: Spiritual Care For The Dying
Photo Credit: D-Gernz on Flickr This week’s Torah reading, Vayechi, begins by telling us that our patriarch Jacob, “lived 17 years in the land of Egypt,” once he had been reunited with his beloved son, Joseph. This sentence sets the stage for the end of the...
Vayetze: 50 Years Later
Marc Chagall, Jacob's Dream, 1966. Nice, France This Shabbat marks 50 years since I read the haftarah for Vayetze at my Friday night bat mitzvah at B’nai Torah in Trumbull, CT. Where has the time gone? Who could have imagined that 50 years later I’d be a rabbi, have...
Toldot: Because Labels Are For Cans
sale-shelf-old-cans-food-162927.jpeg (6000×4000) (pexels.com) When I was growing up, perhaps in middle or high school, I remember having conversations with my friends about how we would never bring children into a world that was so messed up; we were dealing with race...
Latest Midrash HaZak
Massei: The Journals of the Journeys
Parashat Massei: The Journal of the Journeys Rabbi Ron Isaacs In 1960 I spent the summer at Camp Ramah in Canada. Advertised as a Hebrew-speaking camp, it was my first summer away from home. I decided to document my 8-week summer by keeping a diary which I still have...
Parashat Beha’alotekha: Lessons from the Elders
Miriam and the women dancing at the Red Sea, depicted on a mural at the Messianic Society Cemetery in Jerusalem. (Zeevveez/Flickr) Parashat Beha’alotekha: Lessons from the Elders Cantor Sandy Horowitz At the start of the Covid pandemic, those of us over age 55 were...
Shelach Lecha: Scouting Out Our Futures
Photo Credit: Flickr.com/photos/cpasqueretta/9487584047 Shelach Lecha: Scouting Out Our Futures by Rabbi Laura Geller Parashat Shelach Lecha begins at a moment of transition. The people have come to the edge of Canaan, the Promised Land. God tells Moses to send 12...
Latest Personal Blogs
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