Just prior to a shiva minyan (after a funeral) service at the mourner’s home, I was approached by a congregant who asked me “Rabbi, are women included in the minyan?” This veteran Or Ami congregant, an active Jewish woman, surely knew that our congregation, and this rabbi, recognize the uncompromising egalitarianism intrinsic to Judaism. Unlike …
A Prayer for Mothers by the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice Leader: Today we give thanks for mothers. All: For loving nurturers and strong providers. Leader: For mothers who birthed us, for mothers who raised us, mothers of birth and of choice. All: For stepmothers and adoptive mothers and all those who have a mothering …
We went with friends to see the movie Hot Tub Time Machine, hoping for some foolish fun instead of a sappy chick flick. We went in with low expectations and came away with a few good chuckles. On the way out, my friend Peter hoped that at least I could get a good sermon out …
Congregation Or Ami Social Action Chair Laurie Tragen-Boykoff writes: Over a hundred of us at Congregation Or Ami joined together last Wednesday evening to hear from a young man who spent eight years of his life running from a mad man. In order to avoid capture and conscription as a child soldier, Randy told us …
Originally published in Tribe (February 2010) When our Israelite ancestors participated in the Exodus from Egypt, they liberated themselves from much more than just slavery and Pharaoh’s taskmasters. By means of the Ten Plagues, which dismantled the Egyptian pantheon, the Israelites witnessed the defeat of the Nile god, Sun god and Pharaoh’s (false) god complex. …
You spend a year or two leading the temple, being involved in every major (and often minor) decision that is made. You meet weekly with the rabbi, help determine policy at the head of the board, and enjoy greeting congregants at services, programs and on the High Holy Days. And then, your successor is nominated, …
Happy Birthday Israel! I wish I were there celebrating with you. I will eat some humus to celebrate today. Inspired by Ima on the Bima’s list of 13 things she loves about Israel and in honor of Israel’s 62nd birthday today, I offer my own list of 13 things I love about Israel: Jerusalem is …
Anat Hoffman, the energetic, inspirational, forward-thinking Executive Director of the IRAC (Israel Religious Action Center) in Jerusalem, reflects upon Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day. In The Pluralist, the IRAC’s insightful eNewsletter, Hoffman captures the multi-sensory joy Jews feel at the creation/rebirth and existence of the State of Israel: I am drawn again and again to …
My feet hurt. So do my kids’ feet. I’m guessing that there are about another 1,998 other pair of feet in Los Angeles that are still hurting right now. That’s what you get when you try to make a statement on a world-wide scale about morality and genocide. I suppose it is also what happens …
This from my colleague Rabbi Denise Eger on Tazria/Metzora (Leviticus 12:1-15:33): This week’s double Torah portion Tazria/Metzora describes spiritual defilement by means of child birth, physical ailment, and discharges of both semen and blood by men and women. A small section of this week’s portion describes a kind of tzarat or affliction that attacks houses …
Ah-yup… Loving Israel is in the details. I love this piece by Joel Chasnoff NEW YORK (JTA) — In honor of Israel’s 62nd birthday, I’ll forgo the expected Op-Ed about Israeli government corruption, the Bibi-Obama drama, or the Israeli Rabbinate’s stranglehold on marriage and divorce. Instead, I offer this love letter to Israel: “Top 10 …
With so much back and forth about what’s happening in and with Israel – often no more than the same old name calling and Israel-right/Israel-wrong mantra, it was fascinating to read this commentary from the Israeli orthodox rabbi, and liberal thinker, Donniel Hartman of Jerusalem’s Shalom Hartman Institute. It is fascinating to read such a …
My daughter is in Poland as I write, joining 10,000 other Jewish teens from around the world on the international March of the Living. As its website states, March of the Living is an “educational program that brings Jewish teens from all over the world to Poland on Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, to march …
With thanks to Divrei Derech, blog of my friend Rabbi Rick Winer, I offer you Passover ad Absurdium or Cobert Report on Passover. Gotta love it! The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c Passover Commercialism www.colbertnation.com Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform
Three heady days and nights at the AIPAC National Policy Conference in Washington DC. Over 7000 people gathered together to work to ensure the safety of Israel and help deepen the relatonship between the United States and Israel. I invited my mother Linda to join me for the week (my wife needed to be home …