Category: Uncategorized
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Shavuot: Learn, Teach, Read Ruth, Plant, Eat Fruit, Eat Dairy, Commit
Poor Shavuot. In our Jewish calendar, we have minor holidays that get the major holiday treatment. Hanukkah, for example. It is not a biblical holiday, it does not strike major theological notes, yet since it falls in the winter around Christmastime, it tends to get much attention and observance. Then we have major holidays that…
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When a Win is Not a Win
I’m back from my trip to Israel with Interfaith Partners for Peace. It was an incredible journey-I saw and learned a lot and I am looking forward to sharing it with you. Just not yet. Not because I’m not interested, but jet lag (still) and getting caught up from being away for two weeks is…
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I Am The 0.0009%
Oftentimes in describing the details of life we talk about the percentages. I realized recently that I am one of the 0.0009 percent. No, this isn’t a reference to income inequality (wouldn’t that be nice). This is a reference to two years ago, when I was struck down by bacterial meningitis-an inflammation of the layers…
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The Perils of Individualism
This week’s portion, Shimini, carries us deeper into the book of Leviticus. The first half of the portion is the initiation of the sacrificial cult: the Torah describes in dramatic fashion the first sacrifices Aaron and his sons carry out in their role as priests. They slaughter various animals corresponding to the different types of…
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MLK’s Dayenu Moment
This week I wrote my monthly entry in the Rabbis Without Borders blog, reflecting on the confluence with the beginning of Passover and the Seders with the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. For my weekly message, I share what I wrote, and fitting as we move out of Passover this week.…
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Passover: Eat Differently, Clean House, Give Birth, Become an Ally
The holiday of Passover is upon us, beginning tomorrow night. The week-long festival marks the onset of spring and the story of the Exodus, the Torah story of the Israelites’ liberation from Egyptian slavery. The story is an important theological anchor for Judaism: the journey from redemption to freedom is a paradigm we refer to…
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Torah from T’ruah: Parashat Tzav
I was honored to write the weekly d’var Torah for T’ruah, an organization dedicated to connecting Jewish tradition and the issue of universal human rights. Here it is on the T’ruah website. I’ve put it below as well. Torah from T’ruah: Tzav A few weeks ago I sat in a hearing room of the Washington…
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Testimony against Payday Lending (SB 5899)
For the last time this session, I made my way to the Capitol to testify on a bill. When I go, I am there usually at the behest of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, an umbrella Jewish organization, and the Faith Action Network, a statewide interfaith organization which works on issues of social justice.…
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I’m Going to Jerusalem. And Ramallah.
In one of his last gestures before leaving his position as Government Affairs director at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, my friend Zach Carstensen put in my name for a trip run through a program called “Interfaith Partners for Peace.” The idea behind the trip is to pair up rabbis and ministers from the…
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