Haveil Havalim #312 – It’s Time To Talk About The Elephant In The Room Welcome to Haveil Havalim Edition #312! Founded by Soccer Dad, Haveil Havalim is a carnival of Jewish blogs — a weekly collection of Jewish & Israeli blog highlights, tidbits and points of interest collected from blogs all around the world. It’s …
Got a Bone to Pick on Passover: Try this New Shankbone (Zeroah) Ritual
The Zeroah or Shank Bone on the seder plate reminds us of the pascal sacrifice, the sacrifice of a lamb on the eve of the Exodus from Egypt. It served many purposes, including as a thanksgiving offering to God for (soon) bringing us out of Egypt. It also recalls the lamb’s blood that our Israelites …
God Speaks at Jersey Mike’s
And then there are moments like this: when the heart opens to the Holy and fills with awe, wonder and love. Like now. I sit here in the most mundane of places, at a table outside of the local sandwich shop Jersey Mike’s, having just consumed a Caesar Wrap (damn you, slightly rising cholesterol) and …
Money-Money: Can There Ever Be Enough?
Like many, I keep a stack of “must read” books, journals and articles. I finally got around to reading a special issue of the CCAR Journal: The Reform Jewish Quarterly, dedicated to Jewish Perspectives on Finances and the Marketplace (Spring 2010). Ably edited by Rabbi Karyn D. Kedar, senior rabbi of Congregation B’nai Jehoshua Beth …
My Hero: A Heartwarming Aspergers Tale
I have a new hero. Someone who I look up to, venerate, and applaud. Someone who inspired and inspires me. I met this hero in New Orleans, while away at a CCAR rabbinical convention. Sitting in a club listening to some great jazz, I heard my hero’s story. There were tears while it was told. …
Snarky Post #36: Jewki Leaks: Top 10 CCAR Convention Fundraising Ideas that Surely will be Suppressed
Serving on the Revenue Enhancement Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis provides me with an opportunity to shnorr the schnorrers. While at our CCAR Rabbinical Convention in New Orleans, I did a little brainstorming and came up with some brilliant fundraising ideas. Sadly, I’m sure they all will be suppressed: 1. Have conference …
Snarky Post #43: Top 10 Kvetches at the CCAR Convention
I recently attended the CCAR Rabbinical Convention in New Orleans. I love learning and connecting with colleagues; I love making fun of my kvetching colleagues. Here’s my top ten list. Incidentally, when it comes to kvetching, there should be no limits (thus 10 morphed into 17): No buttons inside the elevators. This hi-tech system requires …
April Fools… If Only
I presume that back in the 1930’s and ’40’s many people – Europeans, Americans, Jews particularly – thought that the whispers about concentration camps were someone’s ideas of a bad April Fools joke. After all, who could imagine that while they were sitting comfortably in their homes, people “out there” somewhere were planning and facilitating …
Top 9 New Orleans CCAR Convention Experiences
Not in order of importance… (cross posted on CCAR Convention Blog) 1. Six separate planned experiences of meeting with and conversing 1-to-1 (or in small groups) over important topics: visioning for the reform movement, creating new path for youth engagement, rabbis as techies, interfaith study of difficult texts with non-Jewish clergy, exploring real community and …
New Orleans: 10 Things I’m Looking Forward to Doing
The rabbis of our Reform Movement gather in New Orleans for an annual convention to study, to reflect, and to explore the intersection between Jewish tradition and our daily lives. Being in New Orleans, home to the most devastating hurricane in recent American history, presents an added challenge: how does Jewish tradition respond to the …
Wisdom from Bat Mitzvah Student Lauren: Making God Feel Real
More than anything, I love the individual time I spend with our pre-B’nai Mitzvah students, getting to know them, studying together their Torah portion, and exploring their ideas about God, Torah and Judaism. Without fail, they each surprise me (often teaching me), as they open my eyes to an enlightening perspective on the parasha (Torah …
Israel first to set up field hospital in Japan
Or Ami congregant Robert Grossman passed along this news of Israel’s continued humanitarian aid worldwide: The JERUSALEM POST reports (3/21/2011) that surgery has been established at Minamisanriko, a fishing city devastated by quake; Israel is also providing aid for the homeless. The field hospital Israel is establishing in Japan is the first to be set up …
Viral Purim: The Story Gone Modern
She Almost Killed the Rabbi This Morning
Early this morning, I lay with arms and legs splayed out across the floor and thought to myself, “I think I’m gonna die. Right here; right now.” Holy yoga, rabbi. What were you doing? Just that, Holy Yoga with the Rabbi, Congregation Or Ami’s monthly morning yoga, led by master instructor and congregant Julie Buckley. …
A Jewish Response to the Rabbis Defending former Israeli President Moshe Katsav
On December 30, 2010, a three-judge panel unanimously found former Israeli President Moshe Katsav guilty of “rape, sexual harassment, committing an indecent act while using force, harassing a witness and obstruction of justice.” Indeed, Mr. Katsav’s many offenses directly hurt not only the citizens he assaulted and demeaned, but, as a leading representative of the …