The Stories That Statistics Can't Tell
On Organ Donation and the Importance of Hope
Let’s cover the basics first: About 11 years ago, I was diagnosed with kidney disease. Almost three years ago, I started dialysis. About a year and half ago, I got a kidney transplant.
Thoughts from a Newly Ordained Rabbi
Pirkei Avot 2:2
Be Fruitful & Recognize
Despite being a Jewish educator, I have never felt a strong, personal connection to our sacred texts. I read the Tanakh as one reads literature, though this particular series of books had way too many underdeveloped characters and a very loosely held-together plot.
Talkin 'Bout My Generation
Can you hear it? They’re talking about us again. They’re theorizing and pontificating on us 20s and 30s, jumping to conclusions about our Jewish identity. They’re pointing to declining numbers in affiliation with synagogues and other institutions, and they’re afraid. Terrified, even.
Finance Free Friday Nights: How Shabbat Can Help Ease Weekday Anxiety
On Faith, Trust, and Kindergarten
Tomorrow, my oldest child begins kindergarten, and I’m not sure who’s more nervous. My sweet, sensitive, 95-year-old-Jewish-man-trapped–in-the-body-of-5-year-old son has expressed numerous concerns, ranging from: “What if I don’t make friends?” to “Where will the bathrooms be?” I tell him not to worry, that it won’t be so different from his cherished preschool in my synagogue (where everyone knows him, where is he most comfortable outside of our home) - but I know it will be completely new and very different.
Rosh HaShanah: The New Year of Social Justice
Rosh HaShanah is the holiday of beginning, of potential, of optimism, of hope.
Rosh Hashanah – A Personal Reflection
My earliest memories of the High Holy Day season, in particular Rosh HaShanah, involve me as a child sneaking out of services to use the restroom, only to find myself spending the remainder of the service with my brother in the child care room. During the short time I would stay in services,