Category: Uncategorized
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“Blood Pollutes the Land”
As you can see from the reference to last week’s Torah portion, I wrote this to my congregation last week and forgot to post here. I now have a Substack as well and want to invite you to subscribe to me there as I figure things out! “Blood pollutes the land.” (Numbers 35:33) is a…
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Let’s Stop Punishing Those Who Join Later
We know that coalition building is necessary, as we need to work with allies across divisions in order to bring about the positive societal change that we need. And we also know that it is hard, because working across difference requires humility and compassion, and we sometimes we undermine those coalitions in a variety of…
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Everybody Counts
Torah this week turns to a census. As we begin the new book of Numbers in our annual Torah reading cycle, the Israelites are preparing to restart their journey towards the promised land having spent time encamped at Mount Sinai, receiving the Torah, building the Tabernacle, and installing the priesthood. With the tablets in hand…
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After the Killings in DC
By now you have probably learned about the attack in Washington DC in which Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, two employees of the Israeli embassy, were murdered by a gunman outside the Capital Jewish Museum where they were attending an evening for young professionals. Information continues to emerge; there is video of the gunman inside…
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Remembering a Mystic, Scholar, Fire Starter…and Protester
Today is Lag B’Omer, the holiday of political agitation. How so? Well first a little background. To unpack this we need to reveal a few layers of meaning. A few weeks ago we celebrated Passover, the holiday when we mark the story of the Exodus and the ongoing narrative paradigm of oppression and liberation. And…
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A Prayer for the Jewish People
May the One who blessed our ancestorsAbraham and SarahIsaac and RebekahJacob and Rachel and LeahBilhah and ZilpahMoses, Aaron and MiriamDavid and SolomonRuth and Esther,Bless us Am YisraelThe Jewish people[here in this community and]Wherever they reside. Bless this nation ofGod-wrestlers.Bless this nation ofRabbis and rulersPoets and prophetsScribes and scholarsWoodchoppers and waterdrawers. Bless this nation thatFled from the…
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I’m on the “Today Show!”
In a surreal, sweet surprise, my social media was featured on the Today Show! You can check it out here, and follow me on Instagram or TikTok at @rabbi_360
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In Pursuit of Unity: Passover 5785
Tonight we begin the festival of Passover, the holiday that is both rich in its own meaning and symbolism and a paradigm to which we can apply our own meaning and symbolism. Ostensibly, Passover is both a commemoration of the story of the Israelite’s liberation from Egyptian slavery and a celebration of spring. Both of…
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Play Your Part. We Need You.
[Apologies: wrote this last week and neglected to post here!] A very common question many of us are asking these days is, what can I do? Well, I have an answer: you can do your part. At the end of the book of Exodus, which we read this past Shabbat, we read about the final…
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