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“Fiddler on the Roof” and the Conditionality of Jewish Acceptance
I watch “Fiddler on the Roof” at least once a year, usually on Christmas Day when my congregation partners with our local independent cinema to show the 1971 classic. The film, an adaptation of the Broadway musical which is an adaptation of short stories of Sholom Aleichem, tells the story of Tevye, a dairyman in…
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Thou Shalt Not Lie. Except…
When we come to this week’s Torah portion, I always think about the scene from The Godfather, Part II when Michael Corleone tells his button man Al Neri that he doesn’t want anything to happen to Fredo, his brother who betrayed him, while their mother is alive. Once she dies, however, the story takes a different turn.…
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The Power of Not Accepting One’s Situation
Dear friends: I appreciate all those who follow me here and read my writings. I have recently started a Substack, and have been posting there as well. I am considering moving all of my posting to that platform, so I invite you to subscribe to my blog over there https://rabbi360.substack.com/ Thanks! The story of Joseph…
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We Are Living in Sodom
It was already two weeks ago in our Torah reading cycle, but I can not get the story of Sodom and Gomorrah out of my head. In Genesis 18 we read how God says, “the outrage of Sodom and Gomorrah is so great, and their sin so grave!” (v. 20) and vows to destroy them.…
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The Mountain is Over Our Heads: Kol Nidre 5786
My sermon from Yom Kippur this year. I forgot to post it here until recently! I don’t know where you are getting your news from these days, but one of my go-to sources is the Onion. If you are not familiar with the Onion, it is a satirical newspaper that has been around for a…
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Was Noah a Righteous Person?
This week in the Torah we read the famous story of Noah and the Flood. We learn that God has decided that the people on earth are too evil, and therefore they need to be destroyed. Humanity itself—along with the other life on earth—will survive as God instructs Noah to build an ark and load…
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7 Ways We Can Meet this Moment: Rosh Hashanah 5786
It goes without saying that this has indeed been a difficult few years. Last year as we welcomed in the new year we were negotiating our feelings and response to October 7 and its aftermath. This year, we find ourselves in a place perhaps we didn’t expect, as hostages still languish in captivity and this…
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Why Do We Insist On Asking Victims About Forgiveness?
This being the month of Elul, the themes of repentance and forgiveness are front and center in our hearts and minds as we get ready for the High Holidays. Last week, I had an opportunity to attend a screening of the first two episodes of “The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox,” an 8-part series currently…
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A Day of Love and Hope
This past Shabbat was also a minor holiday on the Jewish calendar: Tu B’Av, so named because of its date, the “fifteenth of [the month of] Av.” Not found in the Torah, it is a later addition to the Jewish calendar, but so seemingly obscure that the rabbis in the Talmud do not have a…
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