Rabbi's Week in Review Blog

This week I have been pretty singularly focused on Pesach. If I have a favorite holiday, it is Passover.  

For me it brings out two of our most prominent Jewish values. One is the idea of Machloket L’Sheim Shamayim - argument for the sake of heaven. Respectful disagreement is how we learn and how we grow. In our Pesach Seder, we read of the Machloket, the disagreement and debate between Rav and Shmuel. Shmuel speaks of our...Read more...

This past week, finding hope amidst despair:

The Bat Mitzvah of Tilly Never, a gathering of the Clinton-Never family and our Kol Ami family this past Shabbat, seeing Tilly speak so beautifully from the Bimah about how we pursue a more just world, gives us hope that our youth understand the need for a more just world, and are willing to do something about it.

While we were celebrating Tilly’s Bat Mitzvah, thousands of Kansas...Read more...

In keeping with this week’s Torah portion I have been thinking about a recent experience Fay and I had visiting New York City.  We have family there: my youngest, one of Fay’s sisters, a niece, and a dear friend of mine since childhood and his wonderful wife.  As is the case with all of our visits, we tend to center our experience on art (yes, and the food which is always wonderful).

Isaac (that’s my youngest) works in...Read more...

This week we celebrate Purim. There has been a lot of back and forth in rabbinic chat rooms as to how we approach this holiday given our present-day contentious and polarizing climate. Should we be celebrating a victory over those who would destroy us (Haman) given our violent response as enumerated in chapter 9 of Megillat Esther - the Book of Esther?

I think there are two dynamics at play for this year’s Purim observance...Read more...

This week will be the final weekly Kol Ami newsletter with Deborah Hirsch as our editor. The newsletter has had an enormous impact on our Kol Ami community. It has kept us informed. Of greater importance, it has kept us connected as a Jewish community at a time when staying connected has become increasingly difficult.

For me, Deborah has been editor extraordinaire. Her patient and kind feedback — e.g., “Did you mean to...Read more...