After 11 deaths in 11 days, I had it out with God. I realized with over 419,000 dead in American fromCovid-19 decimating, it was time for that conversation with the Creator.
Category: blog archive
Testing Our Synagogue’s Vision During Quarantine: Disruptive Judaism 2
When confronted with the first of many “shelter at home” quarantine orders, many houses of worship struggled with a perplexing dilemma: Who are we if we couldn’t be together? The story of one synagogue’s journey to answer that question illustrates the power of perspective and the potential of pushing through uncertainty into the unknown.
Pay It Forward, Covid-19-style
During this pandemic, we can Pay It Forward, taking care of a whole web of workers, businesses, and organizations that have long cared for, served, or sustained us.
Disruptive Judaism: Will Your Synagogue Be Beit Blockbuster or Kehillat Netflix?
Responding to a Disruptive Marketplace for synagogues: The choice is pretty clear: Kehillat Netflix or Beit Blockbuster. Which one will your synagogue become? Kehillat Netflix takes its name from a company that openly and confidently takes chances, risks failure, goes up against conventional wisdom, constantly pivots strategically, and thus has so far ensured both its survival and its success. Beit Blockbuster closed down.
Rabbi In Crisis: How a Community Conspires to Care
Imagine having to make this decision: to fly home to hold your wife’s hand as she buries her mom on the West Coast or to remain on the East Coast to oversee the diagnosis and care of your mother who just had a major stroke. What would you do?
Mensch-ify My Kid: Giving Young Families What They Want
Be a Mensch, that's what Or Ami's innovative parenting and pre-K to 6th grade learning program is all about. Mensch-ify my Kid, Mensch-ify my Home, Mensch-ify my Playground.
Creating an Escape for Teens After the SoCal Fires and Shooting
How might synagogues and Jewish communities respond to the needs of teens to express their inner turmoil and to learn new techniques for managing stress and emotional exhaustion?
So That’s What Rabbis Do: A Rabbinic Student Reflects on a Synagogue’s Fire Response
Rabbinic Student Elana Nemintoff reflects on the role of the rabbi during the immediate responses by Congregation Or Ami, Calabasas, to the Woolsey fire.
Hero or Imposter? As a Rabbi Struggles with Post-Fire Trauma
How does a Rabbi deal with the trauma of a fire and some shootings? Here's another peek into the journey.
Sacrifice My Son Isaac? What Was I Thinking?
Midrashic Monologue: Did you ever wonder what Abraham thought about in the years following his “almost-sacrifice” of his son Isaac? Based on Parashat Vayeira and the Akeidah, we imagine Abraham’s inner struggles.
Naming Naamah, Noach’s Wife (and the Other Torah Women Too)
Noah's wife is mentioned 5 times in Torah, but her name - Na'amah - is not. Hear the voices of other silenced women of Torah.
Did God Create a World Before This One? Spoken-Word Poetry on Genesis
Did God create a world before this one? Spoken-word poetry on Genesis.
WTF! Says the Rabbi to the Teens
That moment sitting with teens when I exclaimed, "WTF!"
I was anxious about going to summer camp
I was anxious about going to summer camp.
That Hidden Pain, that Tidal Wave of Torment
A Spoken Word Poem about the pain some love with and through