Jerusalem, Day 1
Our first full day in Israel we spent touring around Jerusalem. Our tour guide, Alexandra Benjamin, beautifully wove together archeological finds, Biblical verses, ancient history and modern realities to create a tapestry of Israel past, present and future. We began at the City of David, an archeological dig of the original capitol city set up …
Aliyat haNefesh, My Soul Ascends to Jerusalem
I’m in Israel now (though I wrote this on the plane trip over). This might be a good time to reflect upon the purpose of this trip. Israel Adventure 2009 has three purposes: To attend the convention of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (Reform Movement rabbis) who meet once in seven years in Israel; …
Blog Israel 2009: Flying to Israel
Nineteen hours into the trip to Israel, we are aboard El Al flight 8, somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, west of Lisbon. Lights are out; the plane is quiet. More than half of the passengers are asleep, except for me, Mark Wolfson (one travel partner), the Chasid up front putting on his tefillin to pray …
Israel 2009: First Week’s Itinerary
I’m leaving for Israel tomorrow morning. My family understands how I feel about Israel. Its a cross between one child’s love of Camp Newman, another’s love of hanging with friends, and the third’s love of all things baseball. I’m blessed to be able to visit Israel yet again. Here is my itinerary for the first …
Living Inspired: It is about Moving From Miraculous Moments to the Details
Ever been so inspired that you are ready to change the way you live your life, only to then get lost in the details? About this week’s parasha (Torah portion) Mishpatim, Exodus 21:1 – 24:18, my colleague Rabbi H. Rafael Goldstein writes: This week we see how we can go from the most significant event …
Or Ami in Pictures
Sex Education: An Open Letter to Religious Leaders
Education of our young is a partnership between parents, community and teachers. We struggle to figure out how to teach our children values without inculcating them with dogma. Certain areas are off limits in our public schools – prayer, for example. But certain subjects need to be taught: health and sexuality, for instance. We teach …
Twitter: What’s It All About?
Get Over It, suggests Kula, to Pope’s Critics
So the Pope revoked the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying bishop. So the Jewish defense world was up in arms. Wall to wall criticism, as JTA’s Telegraph blog puts it. It is easy to get worked up about this. Holocaust denial is one of those hot buttons that necessarily must evoke a response. But does the …
Did You Love Leah? Haveil Havalim #203
Haveil Havalim #203: Did You Love Leah? Welcome to the Loving (or Not Loving) Leah Edition of Haveil Havalim…. What’s going on here today? Pop over to Ima on (and off) the Bima for the original post. (I’m copying the first paragraphs here for those of you who are still new to reading blogs.) But …
2 Must-Read Articles on the Cynical Misuse of the Holocaust as a New Weapon in the Arsenal of Anti-Semites
Israeli Avram Burg recently raised difficult questions as to whether the Holocaust has become ingrained as a dangerous lens through which Israeli leaders view the world. He suggests that the Holocaust skews their view of reality and leads to a “they are all out to get us” mentality. One may agree with or take issue …
The New Economy
The Greatest Gift: Sisters
What do we parents seek as we try to stimulate healthy relationships between our children? Sometimes détente. Sometimes tolerance. But hopefully, a depth of friendship that endures. It IS possible. As Christine Many writes: I’m five years old, and my mother is on her hands and knees, washing the kitchen floor. I’m telling her about …
Great Quotes: Ben Franklin on Mistakes
Perhaps the history of the errors of mankind, all things considered, is more valuable and interesting than that of their discoveries. Truth is uniform and narrow; it constantly exists, and does not seem to require so much an active energy, as a passive aptitude of the soul in order to encounter it. But error is …