The Torah portion for this week (June 6-12, 2021) tells the story of the unwarranted and costly attack on Moses and the leadership of the Exodus led by the unscrupulous rebel leader Korach after whom the parasha (Numbers 16) is named. It represented the most serious and bloody attempt to...
This week for “Rabbi’s Talk,” a regular Wednesday night KI online zoom program, we learned about the Warsaw Ghetto on the 78th anniversary of the uprising. The Uprising began on the eve of Passover, April 18, 1943 and lasted for 27 days. Although of little military consequence, the Uprising nevertheless...
One of Judaism’s greatest contributions to civilization is Shabbat. Shabbat literally means “day of rest” but Shabbat is really much more than that. Shabbat is also a day of holiness, Torah and celebration. Shabbat is more than the cessation from work. Ultimately, it is the basis of modern labor law...
This last week, the news has yet again been dominated by stories and images involving the police in the United States. On the one hand, there are ongoing reports of police departments on trial for the misbehavior of a few cops. On the other hand, there was also the gripping...
On June 11, 1989, correspondent Martin Weyl ran a lengthy piece in the New York Times entitled “How do Museums Speak the Unspeakable?” More than a survey of the then 19 Holocaust museums, 48 resource centers, 34 archival facilities, 12 memorials and 26 research institutes was a nagging question about...
“Song of Songs,” (1960) Panel III, Marc Chagall National Museum, Nice, France. Passover has many beloved traditions. The holiday begins with the gathering of families and the reading of the Haggadah. Soon as Pesach ends, traditional Jews begin studying Pirkei Avot “Ethics of the Fathers” (or, alternatively, “Principle Teachings”), a...
I am no longer surprised by reports of mass shootings in this country, nor am I numb to the human tragedy experienced by so many. America suffers from a deep sickness, a perverse reverence of high-powered firearms, an insane veneration of machismo and an insatiable capacity to hate. Mass shootings...
Years ago, I read a description of Judaism as a two-part system: yiddishkeit (Jewishness) and mentschlichkeit (humanitarianism). Yiddishkeit, of course, refers to all our particular Jewish activities like keeping Shabbat, Purim, and Passover, et al. Mentschlichkeit refers to Judaism’s ethical system and is extensively addressed in the Torah and throughout...
It has been a long time coming. On Wednesday, October 28, 2020, I was scheduled for a regular doctor’s appointment including my annual fall flu shot. Little did I know that my whole life was going to change and that after a single “listen” on the stethoscope, I would be...
It is now almost one year since Covid began impacting everyday life in the United States and around the world. Covid-19 is the most significant public health crisis in over a century and has profoundly affected the way we live, what we do and what we do not do as...
