Category: Uncategorized
-
Shofar and Sanctuary
My congregation Temple Beth Hatfiloh took the step of becoming a sanctuary congregation as a means of advocating for immigrant justice. Here are the words I shared at our ceremony on August 29, attended by about 100 community members, including the faith community, city leaders, state legislators and a representative from our member of Congress.…
-
The Haze of Elul
I apologize for not having written in a few weeks. After coming back from my summer travels (you can still read the blog here), I fell into a combination of catching up with what I missed and planning for the coming fall (read: High Holidays). But this was a week to turn back to the…
-
Walking in the Footsteps of Kings
Arriving back at the synagogue after a long vacation seems somewhat surreal. In many ways, it as if I hadn’t left. In other ways, I feel like I have been gone for much longer. Taking these 3 ½ weeks off has been a tremendous gift. I feel blessed that I am supported by the congregation…
-
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…
Rabbi 360 