RJ Blog

By Eric L. Abbott Not too long ago, I was asked by the rabbi of my home congregation, Rabbi Peter Stein, to write about my experiences in Israel and at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion so far. I agreed, figuring it would be a fairly easy thing to do. In reality, this has turned out to be tougher than I had originally thought, mostly because there is so much to write about! Nonetheless, here is a (very) short description of what the life of a rabbinic student in Israel is like.

Michtav M’Yerushalyim November 19th, 2012 Dear friends and family members, We begin with a word of thanks to the incredible number of you who have called and/or written – to express solidarity with Israel as well as your concern for our personal well-being.  This ‘connectedness’ means the world to us. We will in particular forever treasure a call from one of our grandchildren who said: “Saba and Savta. I checked with Mom. She said that it’s OK if you need to leave Israel for you to come and stay with us.” Another grandchild called to ask how we were doing [...]

Can it be that only men were at Sinai? When we read the Asseret HaDibrot this Shavuot, do they apply only to men? Is there some proof that the brain power or the moral worth of a woman is less than a man? The answer to all of these questions is a resounding no. As Jews, we are always worried about being demeaned, marginalized, or discriminated against. We work hard and spend millions of hard to raise funds to support equality within our American society and to protect the civil rights of all citizens. We, likewise, do the same for [...]

By Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman Before we are overwhelmed by Passover preparations, I wanted to share a description of a unique Purim celebration here in Jerusalem. We have been struggling with increasing attempts of the Ultra-Orthodox to ban women from the public sphere (ha-adarat nashim in Hebrew).  Women members of Kol HaNeshama helped organize a women’s megillah reading in Zion square. The reading was held a day before the traditional reading of the megillah (in Jerusalem we read it a day after the rest of the Jewish world on Shushan Purim). About a hundred people attended (men were invited to come [...]

When the founders of modern Zionism hoped that having a country of their own would make Jews like all other nations, they didn’t think that the Jews would adopt any of the despicable traits of the anti-Semites among whom they lived in dispersion. The aim of Zionism was not only to liberate the Jews from their perilous existence as pariahs but also to enable them to live by the highest ideals of their tradition. Yet more than six decades after the establishment of the State of Israel that has indeed afforded Jews who settled here freedom from persecution  – and [...]