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Ready or Not, Here We Go
This time of year reminds me of one of the biggest arguments Yohanna and I have had as a couple, because it was about Passover. In 1996, we were spending our first Passover together. She had brought to my apartment a jar of pesto, and I resisted using it because it wasn’t labeled Kosher for…
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Testimony against Predatory Lending
On a beautiful day in Olympia, when the evidence of spring is all over the Capitol Campus, I had the opportunity to give testimony in front of the House Business and Financial Services Committee against predatory lending. Here is my testimony: Members of the committee, my name is Rabbi Seth Goldstein and I am here…
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Be the Egg
When we sit around the Seder table next week we will have the opportunity to retell the story of the Exodus-of our spiritual ancestors’ oppression of slavery in Egypt and the liberation brought by Moses, culminating in the passing through the Red Sea and the receiving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. But we are…
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Testimony in favor of excused absences for Jewish holidays
Today I testified in front of the WA Senate Commerce and Labor Committee in support of SB5173, a bill which would provide for excused absences at work or school for “days of faith or conscience”–i.e., in our case, Jewish holidays that conflict with work or school. I joined a panel with a representative of the…
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It’s Blintzapalooza!
Today is Blintzapalooza day at Temple Beth Hatfiloh, at once the most counter-intuitive and the most appropriate day for a Jewish congregation. Blintzaplooza was started by TBH members 25 years ago as a means to give back to the community, when it was felt by some that the congregation was not engaged enough outside its…
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What Came First, the Harlem Shake or the Egg?
The Internet meme of the moment (or perhaps already past) is the Harlem Shake, a video meme in which a group of people dance crazily to a song by artist and producer Baauer. It has a bit of a “plot”-the videos open with the beginning clip of music with one person dancing while others around…
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Idle, not Idol
Recently I was asked by a member of the congregation about how we understand Exodus 31. She was asked by a neighbor about the Jewish understanding of this text and wanted to check about what she understood it to mean. The relevant text (v. 14-15) reads, “You shall keep the sabbath, for it is holy…
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Lincoln, Spielberg, Kushner and Strouse
While much of the post-Oscars buzz is about host Seth MacFarlane and charges of racism, sexism, homophobia and anti-Semitism in his shtick—about what is subverting stereotypes and what is upholding them—there was another moment during the awards show that also got me thinking. When Daniel Day-Lewis won Best Actor for his monumental portrayal of Abraham…
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