The Holiness of Dwelling
“I am a nester,” my friend said just weeks before Pesach, as we pondered the ramifications of her house having been dismantled for mold remediation. Her home is sacred space for her, a place set apart to replenish herself. Normally, she would have been cooking up a storm in her house. Instead, we baked a...
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Time to Move Forward
As much as I love the Passover seder, it’s in the few days immediately afterward that I can more easily imagine the chaos of the Exodus from Egypt. Coming back from being with my family, unpacking and wondering what happened to half the things I brought with me, being unable to find anything in the...
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Rabbinic Letter Against Asylum Seeker Deportations
The following letter, organized by T’ruah, the New Israel Fund, HIAS, and Right Now, was delivered to two Israeli embassies and seven consulates on January 30, 2018. Over 900 rabbis, cantors, and rabbinical/cantorial students signed it; the names below represent the initial signatories. Click here for the original URL and to add your name. ...
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Vayeshev: No to Nekamah
This Chanukah, let’s choose to follow the examples of Joseph and Tamar, and say no to nekamah. When the time comes to say the “Al Hanissim” prayer, let’s skip the vengeful words “nakamta et nikmatam.”
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Praying With Our Feet
“Praying for freedom never did me any good ‘til I started praying with my feet.” – Frederik Douglas “On the seventh day there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest, a sacred occasion. You shall do no work.” – Leviticus 23:2-3 (Parshat Emor) We are blessed to live in a thriving democracy. Though American and...
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Real Leadership
Rabbi David Ackerman on Pinchas' two distinct visions of leadership, and two sharply divergent paradigms of proper behavior on the part of a leader.
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“The Part About The Stars”
The girl who will become bat mitzvah in my shul on Parshat Lech Lecha has noted that her special day falls a week before the anniversary of Kristallnacht, which members of her family witnessed. So she requested I let her leyn her portion from the Czech “Shoah” scroll in our ark. Those who possess such...
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Velcro, Leather, & String: Towards A New Understanding of Gender and Embodied Mitzvot
“And if you do obey these rules and observe them carefully, YHVH your God will maintain faithfully for you the covenant…” (Deuteronomy 7:12) “Therefore impress these My words upon your very heart: bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead…” (Deuteronomy 11:18) “That shall be...
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Emor: Sacred Times: A Moment to Reflect on AAPI Allyship
This month, we have overlapping “sacred times”: the counting of the Omer and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month.
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