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New Blog Endeavor…
I’m now blogging monthly at My Jewish Learning with my fellow Rabbis Without Borders. Check it out! http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/rabbis-without-borders/
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A Week at Camp
I just returned from a week serving on the faculty of URJ Camp Kalsman, a Jewish summer camp affiliated with the Reform movement up in Arlington, WA. This was my first time serving as faculty, though I have visited camp plenty of times as Yohanna has served on faculty in the past and both of…
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Love and Spirit: Tu B’Av
While in February we tend to have a conversation as to whether Jews should celebrate Valentine’s Day, we may miss the fact that Judaism itself does have a day celebrating romantic love-Tu B’av, the fifteenth (“Tu” = 15) of the month of Av, which this year falls this week on August 11. Tu B’Av is…
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We Acknowledge the Past, But Don’t Live There
This Tuesday coming up is Tisha B’Av, the Ninth of Av, a day of sorrow and commemoration for the destruction of the ancient Temples in Jerusalem. There were two Temples, the first destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE and the second by the Romans in 70 CE. Tradition teaches that both were destroyed on…
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Only Prayers
There is an interesting passage in this week’s Torah portion, Mattot. We are coming to the end of the book of Numbers in our weekly Torah reading cycle, and the Israelites are poised on the eastern side of the Jordan river ready to enter into the promised land. Their years of wandering are over, they…
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Peace Fast
My heart has been heavy this past week reading the news coming out of the Middle East. Beginning with the kidnapping and murder of three young Israeli yeshiva students, followed by the horrendous revenge killing of an even younger Palestinian boy, we are witnessing a deepening round of violence. As rockets land in Israel and…
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A Post-“Hobby Lobby” Fourth
Tomorrow we celebrate the Fourth of July, the central observance of our civil religion as Americans. I believe that as Jews, we need to pay particular attention to the observance of this day. As a minority in this country, we are indebted to the founding principles and values of America. It is the idea of…
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Two Votes on Divestment
Recently we have seen two votes taken around divestment from Israel. First, the student senate at the University of Washington overwhelming voted (59-8) to not support BDS and divest from companies doing business with Israel. This was an important victory because while the resolution was about economic divestment, because it was an academic institution, the…
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Korach Gone But Still Here
This week in our Torah reading cycle we come to the story of Korach. Korach was a member of the Levite tribe, the tribe in which was invested the mantle of leadership of the Israelite community. Moses was of the Levites, and so was Aaron, his brother, whose line became the priesthood. The other non-priest…
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