RJ Blog

Confirmation and b’nai mitzvah have been front and center on this blog for the past few weeks, what with Rabbi Carole Balin’s post on the 90th anniversary of the first bat mitzvah, Barry Shainker’s appreciation of the role of confirmation in Reform Judaism, and then the thoughtful comments on Shainker’s post by rabbis Fred Guttman, Andy Koren, and Joel Abraham. As I commented on Rabbi Balin’s post, the early Reformers deserve high marks for the institution of confirmation as a replacement for bar mitzvah, even though over the long haul their innovation did not “take.” Mr. Shainker pointed out confirmation [...]

When It’s Hard to Believe Life Will Get Better  By Billy Dreskin In this week’s double parashah, B’har/B’chukotai, we read (among many other topics) of the mitzvah to observe the yovel, the fiftieth “Jubilee” year. From the second half of Leviticus 25:10: “It shall be a jubilee for you: each of you shall return to your holding and each of you shall return to your family.”

By Billy Dreskin Way back in July 1990, when my daughter Katie was two years old, Ellen turned to our little girl and said, “Tell Daddy something he doesn’t know.” Katie whispered, smiling shyly, “Today is Mommy’s birthday.” Can you say doghouse? While I’ve never been quite so absent-minded as Professor Brainard (in Flubber and The Absent-Minded Professor), I have been known to get involved in the “importance” of my work and miss the importance of my marriage. Lucky for me, part of Ellen’s portfolio is “angelic, forgiving spirit.”

by Billy Dreskin In this week’s double parashah, Acharei Mot/K’doshim, there’s a one-sentence reference to the mortal sin of Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, who brought “alien fire” into the Mishkan, which we read about in Parashat Sh’mini two weeks ago (see Leviticus 10:1–7). Here, as an introduction to the regulations regarding the Yom Kippur offerings, we read, “The Eternal One spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they drew too close to the presence of the Eternal” (Leviticus 16:1). Rabbi Bamberger writes, “Probably the sentence means simply, ‘They broke the rules and were punished’ ” [...]

by Audrey Merwin In the movie White Christmas, Bing Crosby croons: When I’m worried and I can’t sleep I count my blessings instead of sheep And I fall asleep counting my blessings Crosby, playing the entertainer Bob Wallace, sings this lullaby to calm the fears of a worried youngster. His warm, soothing tones give substance to the words and create a setting of hope and comfort. What if anything does this have to do with the commandment to count the omer? Quite a lot, as it turns out.

by Billy Dreskin Matan Koch is an old friend of mine who, nine years ago, was (what we used to refer to as) a “wheelchair-bound” law student at Harvard University. Today, he’s an attorney and senior federal official who’s still anchored to his wheelchair. While in law school, Matan jotted down some thoughts about his peculiar position in life. I spent a summer with Matan at the URJ Kutz Camp, and I saw how dependent he is on not only his wheelchair for mobility, but also on aides who help him eat, help him bathe, and help him go to [...]

by Rabbi Joseph A. Skloot Until 2008, one of the most popular foods served in Beijing restaurants was known in English as “saliva chicken.” This was actually a literal translation of the dish’s traditional name in Mandarin—which could also be translated as “chicken that makes your mouth water.” In advance of that year’s Olympic games, however, the Chinese government demanded restaurants revise their menus. Eager to be taken seriously as a world power, China feared literal translations like this one would besmirch its image and so, “saliva chicken” became “steamed chicken with chili sauce.”

Kosher animals? Cloven hoofed mammals are fine If they chew their cud Camels, rabbits? Treif Each of them brings up its cud But lacks cloven hooves And pigs? Not kosher Yes, it has a cloven hoof But cud chewer? No. Leviticus 11:3-4,6-7 – Among mammals, you may eat [any one] that has true hooves that are cloven and that brings up its cud. However, among the cud-chewing, hoofed animals, these are the ones that you may not eat: The camel shall be unclean to you although it brings up its cud, since it does not have a true hoof … [...]

by Billy Dreskin This past summer, my son spent seven theatrical weeks at Northwestern University’s National High School Institute in Chicago. Our family arrived only to attend Aiden’s final performance, but we got to see a bit of “Chi-town” along the way. The most impressive site we encountered (other than my son’s outstanding presentation, of course) was the Chicago River, part of whose 156 miles run through the middle of downtown. It is majestic on its own merits, but my awe of this river was amplified when I learned that in the nineteenth century, the flow of its waters was [...]

  Torah says seven Diaspora Jews do eight Is it still Pesach?   The Torah commands us (Exodus 12:15) to eat matzah for seven days of the Passover Festival. That is generally the practice in Israel and for Reform Jews.