How to Show the Torah Some Love
On a recent Friday night during services, after the ark doors were closed following Aleinu, my two-year-old daughter burst out screaming and had to be carried from the room. When I asked my wife later what had happened, she explained that Nava had wanted the Torah to come out, but it had not. My daughter loves Torah – in that absolute and forceful toddler love kind of way.
Given to us in that fateful moment at Sinai, Torah is our blueprint for sacred living – in relationship with God, the Jewish people, and all humankind. At Shavuot, we celebrate this gift by studying late into the night, eating sweets and dairy foods to symbolize the sweetness and lifeblood that Torah is for us, and making our own offerings to God: committing our children to the study of Torah and the embrace of Jewish tradition via confirmation.
Remembering how All Jews Stood at Sinai
In just a couple of days, we will celebrate Shavuot, the holiday that marks our receiving of the Torah on Mount Sinai.
How to Restore a Torah to Holiness
Recently in my congregation, while holding fast to the Torah, we didn’t hold fast enough – literally – and it accidently fell to the floor during a Shabbat service.
#NotOneMore: Taking Action to End Gun Violence
The other day, I was asked why I got involved in the gun violence prevention movement. It’s because of my intolerance—I have no tolerance for injustice and nonsense.
Has the Kotel Deal Reached a Impasse?
The Israeli government promised to come up with a plan for the Kotel deal's implementation by June 1st – but promises yielded to political pressure and procrastination. All the while, visitors to the Kotel continue to be assaulted by the gender police.
To What End? New Benchmarks for Measuring Jewish Youth Engagement
Alone, the numbers are just numbers. When taken in light of these new findings, though, they tell a compelling story of success.
Moving Beyond the Numbers to Welcome Refugees
We are currently facing the largest global refugee crisis since World War II, with 60 million people displaced worldwide, including more than 19 million refugees. The United States has pledge to accept 10,000 refugees from Syria in 2016, yet just over 2,500 have been resettled since the fall. Since May 21, more than 1,000 refugees have died off the coast of Europe.
Sixty million. Ten thousand. Twenty-five hundred.
The refugee crisis often is described using such shock-value numbers, but what do these numbers mean to us?
Women of the Wall Leader Detained at Kotel with Torah that Survived the Holocaust
Rabbi Mona Alfi, the senior rabbi of Congregation B'nai Israel in Sacramento, CA, sent a letter today to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressing “great concern and distress” about the detainment of Lesley Sachs, director of Women of the Wall, at the Kotel today.
Judaism Teaches: Question Authority, Think for Yourself
In his greatest hour, Moses showed us we have nothing to fear. The tablets of God were broken, but we remain intact. Our task, too late for my patient but perhaps not too late for us, is to break the spell of Sinai. Only then, following Moses’ example, can we begin the real work of hammering out what constitutes a moral society.
How Camps Can Better Welcome People of All Sexualities and Gender Identities
Our camps are not always welcome places or even designed to be inclusive of individuals who identify within the LGBTQIA community. But the good news is that our camps are trying to navigate a path of change, and a panel discussion that took place in May is evidence of the beginning of change.