Why a Road Trip Focused on Justice?
I won't be posting on my Rabbi360 blog for a bit because I'm taking some time off for study and vacation. But, I can't stay away from the keyboard too long. My family and I are taking a long road trip across the country to visit some important social justice and civil rights sites (as ...
An Unlikely Invitation to a New Way of Being
Parashat Balak is famous for the story of the talking donkey, only the second talking animal in the Torah. (The snake in the Garden of Eden, remember?) But we would be wise to not only note the fact of a talking donkey, but to listen to what it has to say. The talking animal comes ...
Zero Tolerance for Zero Tolerance
In response to recent "zero tolerance" immigration policies that resulted in separating children from their parents, local faith leaders organized a vigil outside of Olympia City Hall. We heard from faith leaders, immigrant justice activists and local officials. Over 350 people came to show their support. I'm proud to have helped organize and MC the ...
The Life and Death and Life of Books
As a congregational rabbi, I am used to the ebbs and flows of time and ritual. Shabbat comes every week, the holidays cycle every year, there will always be births and deaths, weddings and b’nai mitzvah. But every so often an opportunity arises that a rabbi will participate in only once (maybe twice) in a ...
Torah tl;dr: Getting Caught Up…
I've neglected to post my most recent podcast episode, though it does appear in the separate page. So here are the most recent episodes. And, as I reach my two-year anniversary of the podcast, I'm going to take a little summer hiatus from my weekly episodes. But, you can still catch me on my other ...
יני ולורל בדבור אחד/Yanny and Laurel in One Utterance
The Internet sensation of the moment is the Yanny/Laurel debate in which a recording of the word “Laurel” from a vocabulary website was discovered to sound like the word “Yanny” by some listeners. I’m not going to go too in depth as to the background, but long story short, some people who listen to the ...
“We Will Do and We Will Hear”: Words Shared at the WA Poor Peoples Campaign Rally
I had the honor to speak at the Poor Peoples Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival rally and demonstration at the State Capitol this past Monday. It was the first of six weekly gatherings happening around the country and in Washington, DC: My name is Rabbi Seth Goldstein and I am honored and proud ...
Torah tl;dr: “Behar-Behukotai”
We are all servants. Listen to the latest episode of my podcast here: 60 SECONDS TO WISDOM. Short teachings on the weekly Torah portion. Suitable for all who seek.
The Spirituality of Volcanoes
This posting was originally posed on the Rabbis Without Borders blog on My Jewish Learning. You can read the original here. While perhaps we are more familiar with the destructive nature of earthquakes and hurricanes and tornados, since they occur more frequently and make the national news more often, I have come to understand the ...
